British and Irish Lions: Jack van Poortvliet called up as cover for Dublin as 15 players return ahead of Argentina clash
Fifteen new players joining the British and Irish Lions training camp ahead of the first match of the tour; scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet also joins as cover; watch the Lions vs Argentina in the first tour match on Friday June 20 live on Sky Sports Main Event from 7pm;
Tuesday 17 June 2025 08:51, UK
England and Leicester scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet has been called up as cover for the British and Irish Lions, as 15 players return to the squad ahead of facing Argentina, live on Sky Sports.
After the completion of the Premiership and the United Rugby Championship finals, players from Bath, Leicester Tigers and Leinster entered the training camp ahead of the Lions' first match of the tour on Friday against Argentina in Dublin.
Finn Russell led Bath to their first Premiership title since 1996 with their 23-21 victory over Leicester in Saturday's final. The Scotsman, who had excelled in Bath's Premiership win, now joins Marcus Smith and Fin Smith as one of three fly-halves in the squad.
Van Poortvliet is also joining the squad as cover, with Ireland's Jamison Gibson-Park managing a minor glute muscle strain. England's Alex Mitchell and Tomos Williams of Wales are the other scrum-halves in the group.
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The 15 new players will train with the Lions on Tuesday but if any of those players do feature against Argentina later this week, their involvement will likely be limited.
Because of the reduced number of players at the six-day training camp in Quinta do Lago in Portugal, head coach Andy Farrell previously called up England front-rowers Jamie George and Asher Opoku-Fordjour to help with training sessions. They will train for the last time on Monday before returning to their clubs.
Only one selected player - Scotland full-back Blair Kinghorn - is yet to link up with the Lions squad.
Kinghorn remains on club duty with Toulouse, who are competing in the Top 14 semi-finals on Friday. He could be away for a further week if his team reach the final.
New players joining the squad in full:
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England)
Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Joe McCarthy (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Andrew Porter (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
James Ryan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Dan Sheehan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby/England)
Josh van der Flier (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Hugo Keenan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
James Lowe (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Garry Ringrose (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Finn Russell (Bath Rugby/Scotland)
As training cover:
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers/England)
British & Irish Lions tour of Australia on Sky Sports
Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.
