Fin Smith to start at fly-half for British and Irish Lions vs Argentina, with Marcus Smith at full-back; Maro Itoje captains side for first time; Watch the Lions vs Argentina in the first tour match on Friday June 20 live on Sky Sports Action and Main Event from 7pm
England’s Fin Smith will start the British and Irish Lions’ first game of the 2025 tour at fly-half against Argentina in Dublin on Friday, live on Sky Sports, with Marcus Smith named at full-back.
Maro Itoje will captain the side for the first time as Andy Farrell’s charges face the Pumas in the Irish capital – the first match the Lions have played in Ireland – ahead of travelling to Australia for the rest of their summer tour.
Fin and Marcus Smith and Itoje are three of nine English players named in the starting XV, with three Irish, two Scottish and one Welshman – Jac Morgan – included.
Northampton Saints flanker Henry Pollock features among the replacements, while Leinster and Ireland hooker Ronan Kelleher, who is also on the bench, is the only player involved who played in last weekend’s domestic finals.
British and Irish Lions: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan Dickie, 3 Finlay Bealham, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Jac Morgan, 8 Ben Earl.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Elliot Daly, 23 Mack Hansen.
Argentina: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Justo Piccardo, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Garcia; 1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 3 Joel Sclavi, 4 Franco Molina, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 8 Joaquin Oviedo
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Santiago Grondona, 20 Joaquin Moro, 21 Simon Benitez Cruz, 22 Matias Moroni, 23 Santiago Cordero
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