Quartet in British & Irish Lions squad

By Mark Stevens
6/5/21

Four Exeter Chiefs players have today been named in Warren Gatland's 37-man British & Irish Lions squad to tour South Africa for the 2021 Castle Lager Lions Series.

Forwards Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jonny Hill and Sam Simmonds, together with back Stuart Hogg, have all been selected for the tour, which gets underway with a warm-up fixture against Japan on June 26, before clashes against the DHL Stormers, SA Invitation XV, Cell C Sharks, South Africa A and Vodacom Bulls, as well as the three Test matches against the world champions.

The news was broke via Sky Sports News this lunchtime by former England and British Lions forward, Jason Leonard, who is the Lions chairman.

“We believe we’ve picked a squad capable of winning a Test series in South Africa,” said Gatland. “Selecting a Lions squad is never easy and, in many ways, this has been the most challenging selection I have been involved in. Over the course of the last three weeks the coaches and I have rigorously debated each position. We saw some outstanding performances in the recent Six Nations, so competition for places has been tough with some incredibly tight calls to make.

“However, we are very happy with the squad we have assembled and look forward to meeting up in Jersey in just over a month’s time to start our preparation to take on the World Champions. We've left out some very talented players which gives an indication to the strength of this squad and we know how important that stand-by list will be.

“Being selected for a Lions Tour is the greatest honour for a British and Irish player and I congratulate everyone named today.”

Backs (16):

Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby, Wales) – Wing

Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby, Ireland) – Centre

Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) – Fly-half #821

Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) – Centre #822

Gareth Davies (Scarlets, Wales) – Scrum-half

Owen Farrell (Saracens, England) – Fly-half #780

Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, Scotland) – Centre

Robbie Henshaw (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) – Centre #824

Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland) – Full-back #783

Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland) – Scrum-half #790

Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) – Scrum-half

Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester Rugby, Wales) – Wing

Finn Russell (Racing 92, Scotland) – Fly-half #835

Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) – Wing

Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) – Wing #816

Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales) – Full-back #833

Forwards (21):

Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland) – Second row

Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) – Back row

Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England) – Hooker

Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England) – Back row

Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) – Prop

Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby, Wales) – Back row #779

Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) – Prop #818

Jamie George (Saracens, England) – Hooker #819

Iain Henderson (Ulster Rugby, Ireland) – Second row #808

Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, England) – Second row

Maro Itoje (Saracens, England) – Second row #825

Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, Wales) (Captain) – Second row #761

Wyn Jones (Scarlets, Wales) – Prop

Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, England) – Second row #826

Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales) – Hooker #829

Andrew Porter (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) – Prop

Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, England) – Back row

Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) – Prop

Justin Tipuric (Ospreys, Wales) – Back row #786

Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England) – Prop #787

Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) – Back row