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Morgan and Williams are pride of Welsh Lions

Tomos Williams and Jac Morgan in action for Wales

Jac Morgan and Tomos Williams have both been included in the British & Irish Lions squad to tour Australia this summer.

The two Welsh internationals were named by tour manager Ieuan Evans among a tour party of 38 players unveiled in a ceremony at the O2 Arena in London. There are 15 Irish players, a dozen of them from Leinster, 13 England and eight Scots.

Wales skipper Morgan learned of his selection while flying from Johannesburg to Durban to prepare for his club’s BKT United Rugby Championship clash with the Sharks at King’s Park on Friday night.

He will lead the team on his 50th appearance in a game in which he will find himself coming up against two-time South African World Cup winning captain Soya Kolisi in a big back row battle. He has won 18 caps for Wales.

The 25-year-old led Wales throughout the Six Nations and has the ability to play right across the back row. As a specialist No7, he will have competition for a test place from Ireland’s Josh van der Flier and the England duo of Ben Curry and Henry Pollock, who all made the 38-man squad.

“It’s a great honour for Jac to be included in the Lions squad and he will learn a lot on the trip. But I tell you what, they will learn a fair amount from him as well,” said Ospreys head coach Mark Jones.

“Jac is a very authentic guy, and he leads in his own way. His actions are very humble around success and failure – he treats them both the same and he is a very level guy.

“If you are a player or coach working alongside him, he gives you a great platform to work off. He never gets too emotional, and he is very analytical.

“He also understands there are only certain things you can control. That’s his great strength as a leader, along with his handling of referees.”

Scrum half Williams became the 17th player from the Gloucester club to be selected by the Lions. The 30-year-old Treorchy product has won 63 Welsh caps to date.

He admitted to being delighted to be following in the footsteps of previous Welsh No 9s who have played for the touring team – Tommy Vile, Willie Morgan, Howard Poole, Haydn Tanner, Rex Willis, Trevor Lloyd, Tony O’Connor, Gareth Edwards, Chico Hopkins, Brynmor Williams, Terry Holmes, Robert Jones, Dwayne Peel, Mike Phillips, Rhys Webb and Gareth Davies.

“I’ve got to admit, I did shed a tear. I’m very proud – it’s the top of the mountain really, isn’t it?” said an emotional Williams.

“You can’t get much higher than this achievement. To put in all this hard work throughout your career and your life, it’s hard to put into words.”

The Lions will kick-off their tour with a game against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium before heading to Australia, where they will face the Wallabies in three test matches. When they last met the Wallabies they won the series 2-1 with a team captained by Sam Warburton.

“Since we met as a coaching unit for the very first time six weeks ago, we have been discussing more than 75 players of interest,” explained Lions head coach Andy Farrell.

“But the key job is getting that squad balance right as we prepare for a long and demanding tour that finishes with a three-test series against the Wallabies. I’m very excited about working with this group and believe they have the capacity to achieve something special and add to the Lions legacy.”

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS SQUAD 2025

Backs
Bundee Aki (Connacht/Ireland), Elliot Daly (Saracens/England), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster/Ireland), Mack Hansen (Connacht/Ireland), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Hugo Keenan (Leinster/Ireland), Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland), James Lowe (Leinster/Ireland), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England), Garry Ringrose (Leinster/Ireland), Finn Russell (Bath/Scotland), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints/England), Marcus Smith (Harlequins/ England), Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh/Scotland), Tomos Williams (Gloucester/Wales)

Forwards
Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Ireland), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England), Jack Conan (Leinster/Ireland), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks/England), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/ Scotland), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England), Ben Earl (Saracens/England), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Ireland), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England), Maro Itoje (Saracens/England – captain), Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Ireland), Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Ireland), Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints/England), Andrew Porter (Leinster/Ireland), James Ryan (Leinster/Ireland), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh/Scotland), Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Ireland), Will Stuart (Bath/England), Josh van der Flier (Leinster/Ireland)

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS 2025 TOUR FIXTUTRES

Date Opponents Venue KO (AEST / BST)
20-Jun Argentina Aviva Stadium, Dublin 7.00am / 8.00pm
28-Jun Western Force Optus Stadium, Perth 5.45pm / 10.45am
2-Jul Queensland Reds Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 7.45pm / 10.45am
5-Jul NSW Waratahs Allianz Stadium, Sydney 7.45pm / 10.45am
9-Jul ACT Brumbies GIO Stadium, Canberra 7.45pm / 10.45am
12-Jul Invitational XV Adelaide Oval, Adelaide 7.15pm / 10.15am
19-Jul 1st Test v Wallabies Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 7.45pm / 10.45am
22-Jul First Nations & Pasifika XV Marvel Stadium, Melbourne 7.45pm / 10.45am
26-Jul 2nd Test v Wallabies MCG, Melbourne 7.45pm / 10.45am
2-Aug 3rd Test v Wallabies Accor Stadium, Sydney 7.45pm / 10.45am

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