Connacht's Finlay Bealham called into the British and Irish Lions squad 

Bealham's Connacht teammate Jack Aungier has been called up to Paul O'Connell's Ireland squad as his replacement.

LION: Connacht and Ireland prop Finlay Bealham has been added to Andy Farrell's Lions squad. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Connacht and Ireland prop Finlay Bealham has been added to the British & Irish Lions squad for next month’s tour to Australia following the withdrawal of Scotland’s Zander Fagerson, due to injury.

The Connacht tighthead, with 51 Ireland caps, joined the group of 23 other available players which has assembled in Dublin ahead of departure for a six-day training camp in Portugal, with the squad set to leave for Quinta Do Lago on the Algarve on Tuesday. Head coach Andy Farrell will be without his selected players from URC finalists Leinster, and English Premiership finalists Bath and Leicester Tigers, whose domestic finals take place this Saturday, while Blair Kinghorn remains in Toulouse for the Top 14 play-offs.

In addition to tour replacement Bealham, with Fagerson ruled out with a calf injury, Farrell has also added two-time Lions tourist Jamie George and fellow front-rower Asher Opoku-Fordjur for the Portugal training camp as cover at hooker and prop respectively. Saracens hooker George, who was a Test selection on the 2017 and 2021 tours to New Zealand and then South Africa, will stand in with two of Farrell’s hookers on Leinster duty, Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher. Sale’s Opoku-Fordjur is a potential touring replacement for injured Irish tighthead Tadhg Furlong, though the one-cap Englishman can play on both sides of the scrum.

Bealham’s inclusion will bring the total Ireland representation, for now, to 16, although with 12 of them from Leinster, there will be four Irishmen in Portugal, the prop joining Munster’s Tadhg Beirne and provincial team-mates Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen as preparations on the training field get underway ahead of a pre-tour 1888 Cup fixture against Argentina at a sold-out Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Friday, June 20.

The squad flies to Perth the following day and opens its tour against Western Force on June 28 with the first Test against the Wallabies on July 19.

Head coach Farrell commiserated with the injured Fagerson and said: “It’s tough on Zander to miss out so close to the Tour, but now Finlay gets an opportunity to come in and add to the group. This is unfortunately part and parcel of the game, so we always have to be prepared for that.

“But it’s great to finally be at the stage where we can get onto the training ground and get to work with these players.

“Portugal will be really important for us as we look to get our house in order with only a few training sessions before we take on Argentina in the 1888 Cup in Dublin.” 

IRELAND CALL UP: Connacht's Jack Aungier has been called into the Ireland squad to replace teammate Finlay Bealham who has been called up to the Lions Tour. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Meanwhile uncapped tighthead prop Jack Aungier has been called up to replace Bealham, his Connacht teammate, for Ireland's two Test summer tour of Georgia (5th July) and Portugal (12th July).

Aungier featured for Emerging Ireland on the tour to South Africa last autumn. He also trained with the Ireland men’s squad during the recent Six Nations.

British & Irish Lions Squad (Portugal Camp) 

Forwards (13): Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Ireland), Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Ireland), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks/England), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England), Ben Earl (Saracens/England), Jamie George (Saracens/England), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England), Maro Itoje (Saracens/England) – captain, Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks/England), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints/England), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh/Scotland).

Backs (11): Bundee Aki (Connacht/Ireland), Elliot Daly (Saracens/England), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England), Mack Hansen (Connacht/Ireland), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints/England), Marcus Smith (Harlequins/ England), Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh/Scotland), Tomos Williams (Gloucester/Wales).