Eight Scots picked for 2025’s British and Irish Lions tour of Australia but Hawick’s Darcy Graham misses out

The last Lions squad without any regional representation was 2005’s for a tour of New Zealand yielding three test defeats out of three.

The closest to a Borderer in that squad of 44, with Clive Woodward as head coach, was Aberdeen-born Chris Cusiter, a scrum-half for the since-scrapped Border Reivers at the time.

The only other Scots called up were Glasgow’s Gordon Bulloch and Edinburgh-born Jason White.

Kelso rugby legend Ross Ford was the only Borderer to take part in the Lions’ tour of South Africa in 2009 after being drafted in as a replacement for Ireland’s Jerry Flannery ahead of the tourists’ departure.

The 40-year-old, Scotland’s most-capped player ever, with 110 appearances to his name between 2004 and 2019, made one test appearance, from the bench, for head coach Ian McGeechan’s side for a 28-9 win against the Springboks in July 2009 in Johannesburg.

He was the only one of the four Scots called up, Australian-born Gala lock Nathan Hines being among the others, to play in a test for the Lions that tour.

Hawick’s Stuart Hogg was the only Borderer among four Scots picked by head coach Warren Gatland for 2013’s trip to Australia, with the others including Fife-born former Border Reivers loosehead prop Ryan Grant.

That was the first of three Lions call-ups for Hogg, 32, but he didn’t play in any tests until the third and last of them in South Africa in 2021.

Hogg and Jedburgh’s Greig Laidlaw were the only Borderers among five Scots on 2017’s Lions tour of New Zealand in 2017, with Gatland in charge again, but the scrum-half, like his full-back travelling companion, didn’t feature in any of the three tests contested.

Hawick’s Rory Sutherland joined Hogg and six other Scots among Gatland’s squad of 37 for 2021’s tour, both playing in two tests.

Graham’s South African-born Edinburgh team-mate and fellow winger Duhan van der Merwe was among the others selected, playing in all three tests, and the 29-year-old has been given the nod this time too by head coach Andy Farrell.

He’s among eight Scots called up for this summer’s initial squad of 38, the others being Huw Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Finn Russell, Sione Tuipulotu, Scott Cummings, Zander Fagerson and Pierre Schoeman.

Ireland account for the biggest contingent in the squad with 15 call-ups, followed by England’s 13. A Welsh representation of two is their lowest ever.

Graham missing the cut – for now, at least – doesn’t mean the Borders will go entirely unrepresented, however, as former Gala and Melrose flanker John Dalziel is among Farrell’s assistant coaches.

The Lions, captained by England’s Maro Itoje, will play ten fixtures all together, beginning with friendly against Argentina in Ireland on Friday, June 20.

Their opening test is in Brisbane on Saturday, July 19, with two more to follow in Melbourne on Saturday the 26th and Sydney on Saturday, August 2.

Announcing his squad selection, Farrell, 49, said: “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, 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 am very excited about working with this group and believe they have the capacity to achieve something special and add to the Lions’ legacy.”