Star-studded and experienced, this alternative British & Irish Lions XV underlines Warren Gatland's immense strength in depth.
Head coach Gatland said picking the XV was "incredibly difficult".
"In my four Tours as a Lions coach, this was by far the hardest Test selection I have been involved in," said Gatland.
"We couldn't have asked for more from the players so far; they've all put their hands up and made picking a starting XV incredibly difficult.
"In truth, we would have been happy with any number of different combinations across the 23. However, we're very pleased with the side we've settled on."
BACK-THREE:
- 15. Liam Williams (Wales)
- 14. Josh Adams (Wales)
- 11. Louis Rees-Zammit (Wales)
CENTRES:
- 13. Chris Harris (Scotland)
- 12. Owen Farrell (England)
HALFBACKS:
- 10. Marcus Smith (England)
- 9. Conor Murray (Ireland)
FRONT-ROW:
- 1. Mako Vunipola (England)
- 2. Ken Owens (Wales)
- 3. Kyle Sinckler (England)
SECOND-ROW:
- 4. Iain Henderson (Ireland)
- 5. Adam Beard (Wales)
BACK-ROW:
- 6. Tadhg Beirne (Ireland)
- 7. Hamish Watson (Scotland)
- 8. Taulupe Faletau (Wales)
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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