British & Irish Lions coaching legend Sir Ian McGeechan has named his starting XV for the 2025 tour to Australia.
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At 77 years old, McGeechan, renowned for his significant coaching achievements with the Lions, shared his selection with I News.
McGeechan served as the head coach for the British and Irish Lions during their 1989, 1991, 1995, and 2009 tours.
He also contributed to the coaching team in 2005 under Warren Gatland. Additionally, he held coaching positions with Scotland, Northampton Saints, Wasps, and Bath, the latter from 2010 to 2012.
As a player, McGeechan, a fly-half or centre, earned 32 caps for Scotland and played in eight matches for the Lions during the 1974 and 1977 tours.
Despite Scotland and Wales finishing above other nations in the Six Nations, only two players from these teams made it into McGeechan's chosen squad.
McGeechan's Lions XV:
15 Blair Kinghorn - Scotland
14 Duhan van der Merwe - Scotland
13 Tommy Freeman - England
12 Sione Tuipulotu - Scotland
11 James Lowe - Ireland
10 Finn Russell - Scotland
9 Jamison Gibson-Park - Ireland
1 Andrew Porter - Ireland
2 Dan Sheehan - Ireland
3 Tadhg Furlong - Ireland
4 Maro Itoje - England
Maro Itoje of England during the Six Nations Match between England and Wales at Twickenham, London on 10 February 2024 (Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)
5 Tadhg Beirne - Ireland
6 Jamie Ritchie - Scotland
7 Jac Morgan - Wales
8 Ben Earl - England
Ben Earl of England celebrates after winning during the Guinness Six Nations Match between England and Ireland at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London on March 9th 2024. - PHOTO: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK
Replacements:
Dewi Lake - Wales
Pierre Schoeman - Scotland
Zander Fagerson - Scotland
Joe McCarthy - Ireland
Chandler Cunningham-South - England
Alex Mitchell - England
Jack Crowley - Ireland
ImmanuelFeyi-Waboso - England
