Inside the Lions' Den: Injured Scotland prop Fagerson out of Lions tour, Aussie-born Bealham added to squad

Tue, Jun 10, 2025, 12:00 AM
AW
by AFP & Nick Wasiliev
Scotland prop Zander Fagerson has been ruled  out of the British and Irish Lions' tour to Australia with a calf injury. Photo: Getty Images
Scotland prop Zander Fagerson has been ruled out of the British and Irish Lions' tour to Australia with a calf injury. Photo: Getty Images

Scotland prop Zander Fagerson has been ruled out of the British and Irish Lions' tour to Australia with a calf injury, head coach Andy Farrell announced on Monday.

The Glasgow Warriors tighthead will be replaced in the squad by Australian-born Ireland international Finlay Bealham.

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The Scottish international becomes the latest star to be ruled out for the tour, with several stars, spearheaded by Irish star Caelan Doris set to miss the tour due to injury.

It adds to the drama around the front-row, with Irish star Tadhg Furlong in doubt with a calf injury,

The squad, minus those involved in next weekend's Premiership Rugby and United Rugby Championship finals, are due to fly to Portugal for a training camp on Tuesday.

Farrell will commence preparations without 16 players due to domestic finals duties, with the side having only ten days to prepare for their first match against Argentina on June 20.

England pair Jamie George and Asher Opoku-Fordjour will also join the group heading to Portugal.

"It's tough on Zander to miss out so close to the tour, but now Finlay gets an opportunity to come in and add to the group," said Farrell.

"This is unfortunately part and parcel of the game, so we always have to be prepared for that.

"But it's great to be finally at the stage where we can get onto the training ground and get to work with these players."

Bealham is the third Australian-born player to be selected in the Lions squad along with Mack Hansen and Sione Tuipulotu.

Like Hansen, Bealham was born and raised in Canberra and moved to Ireland after school.

The prop qualified via his grandparents and has since played 41 games for the Irish since his debut in 2016.

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