British & Irish Lions

A British and Irish Lions squad of 38 players was announced on Thursday, for the Lions' summer tour of Australia.

Here is the full list:

Image source, Getty Images

Make sure to stay across our British and Irish Lions squad announcement live page from 13:00 BST as Andy Farrell names the group of players that will tour Australia this summer.

You can watch the announcement live and follow text updates and analysis from the event in London.

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Inpho

British and Irish Lions legend Willie John McBride feels the summer's tour of Australia will be "tougher than people expect".

Coach Andy Farrell will name his squad for the tour of Australia later on Thursday with England's Maro Itoje expected to be named as captain.

After slipping down the world rankings, Australia have improved under Joe Schmidt ahead of the three Test matches with the Lions.

"It's not an easy one," said McBride, who captained the Lions' famous 'invincibles' tour of South Africa in 1974.

"Joe Schmidt is there and he has been rebuilding the Australian team."

McBride added that the Lions will travel Down Under as "favourites", but that tag does not have any value unless it is backed up on the pitch.

The five-time Lions tourist added that Farrell "has done a superb job" with Ireland and backed him to replicate that in Australia.

"To go to the other side of the world and sort out a team is quite a job in the short distance that they have," the 84-year-old said.

"Andy Farrell has done a superb job for Ireland. He has done it with his feet on the ground and done it calmly.

"He has built up a terrific squad and I think he will do the same thing for the Lions."

McBride feels that Farrell, who has won two Six Nations titles with Ireland, is a strong "figurehead" to lead the tour.

"He has a good eye for the game and I think he'll develop this team," McBride added.

"He has had time to look at what players he has and see what type of game he wants to play.

"He has a good coaching team as well. Along with the captain and the rest of the coaches, he pulls it all together."

Image source, Getty Images

After months of speculation, head coach Andy Farrell will announce his British and Irish Lions squad to tour Australia on Thursday, 8 May at a live event in London.

Farrell has not said how many players he will pick but a total of 37 players were named in the initial squad for the last Lions tour to South Africa in 2021.

The squad will be revealed by former Wales wing and current Lions chairman Ieuan Evans, who was part of the victorious 1989 Lions tour to Australia.

The announcement is set to take place from 14:00 BST in front of more than 2,000 Lions fans at the O2 arena.

Join our live text coverage from 13:00 BST.