Tadhg Beirne poised to be among eight Irish Lions starters for first Test

There could also be disappointment for Bundee Aki who set to lose out for the inside centre role.

Tadhg Beirne is set to start ahead of Ollie Chessum at blindside flanker for the Lions in Saturday's first Test against Australia. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

There could be as many as eight Ireland players in the British & Irish Lions side to face Australia in Saturday’s first Test when Andy Farrell names his starting line-up on Thursday morning Irish time.

Early indications are that the head coach will lean heavily on familiar faces from the Ireland national team set-up he leads with Hugo Keenan a possible starter at full-back, James Lowe on the left wing, and Jamison Gibson-Park in the number nine jersey.

Ireland could be the bulk supplier of the forward pack for the series opener at Suncorp Stadium with tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong set to win his seventh consecutive Lions Test cap having started all three Tests in both New Zealand eight years ago and South Africa in 2021. Furlong seems likely to form a front row alongside Irish team-mate Dan Sheehan at hooker and English loosehead Ellis Genge.

Joe McCarthy is thought to be the front runner to partner Lions captain Maro Itoje in the second row while Jack Conan is in a similar position for the No.8 jersey. The most contentious positions are the two flankers with Farrell set to opt for a third lock at blindside flanker with Tadhg Beirne poised to start ahead of Ollie Chessum while the number seven jersey on the openside could go to England’s Tom Curry, fending off intense competition from Jac Morgan of Wales and Ireland’s Josh van der Flier.

There could also be disappointment for Bundee Aki, set to lose out to Scotland’s Sione Tuipulotu for the inside centre role alongside another Scot, Huw Jones.

There may be some solace for both Aki, like Curry and Beirne a 2021 Test selection, and van der Flier on the bench but there are suggestions the head coach’s son Owen Farrell has been left out of the 23, as has back-rower and squad baby, 20-year-old Henry Pollock.

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS (possible): H Keenan (Ireland); T Freeman (England), H Jones (Scotland), S Tuipulotu (Scotland), J Lowe (Ireland); F Russell (Scotland), J Gibson-Park (Ireland); E Genge (England), D Sheehan (Ireland), T Furlong (Ireland); M Itoje (England) – captain, J McCarthy (Ireland); T Beirne (Ireland), T Curry (England), J Conan (Ireland).