15 interesting facts about the Lions XV, including Farrell’s name change and Leicester reject

4. Jonny Hill: The second-row is the nephew of former Rugby League international Paul Loughlin.

5. Maro Itoje: It is commonly known that Itoje is the cousin of Bath’s loosehead prop Beno Obano. However Gloucester speedster Ollie Thorley is also technically Itoje’s cousin after his grandfather re-married a Nigerian woman who is the Saracens lock’s aunt.

6. Courtney Lawes: He is a product of Northampton Old Scouts, the same club that produced his former teammate Rob Milligan as well as Ben Cohen and Steve Thompson

7. Hamish Watson: Before moving to Scotland to take up a central contract with the national sevens squad in 2011, Watson was a part of the Leicester Tigers Academy.

8. Taulupe Faletau: As a young boy, his school friends struggled to pronounce his Tongan name, and so he picked up the nickname Toby.

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• Jonny Wilkinson selects Carter and O’Driscoll in his all-time XV
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