
‘To become a true rugby legend you have to play for the Lions' – the Irish greats who roared on the pitch
As the 2025 tour kicks off, we look at some green giants who made their mark
Today at 21:30
Tonight the 2025 British and Irish Lions Tour begins with a special match in Dublin against Argentina to mark the 150th anniversary of Irish rugby.
Legendary Irish and Lions player Ollie Campbell captured the importance of wearing the Lions' jersey, saying: 'You can become famous playing for Ireland but to become a true rugby legend you have to play for the Lions.'

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RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Joe Schmidt's swipe at Lions 'southern hemisphere' centres
Australia head coach Joe Schmidt has taken a swipe at the British and Irish Lions by describing Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu as a "southern-hemisphere centre partnership". Aki and Tuipulotu, who were born in New Zealand and Australia respectively, form a midfield partnership for Friday's tour opener against Argentina in Dublin and Schmidt has seized the opportunity to highlight their switch of national allegiance. Aki qualified for Ireland through residency in 2017, and became an Irish citizen in 2024, while Tuipulotu is able to represent Scotland because of his Greenock-born grandmother. "A southern-hemisphere centre partnership that will be pretty formidable," said Schmidt at the Wallabies squad announcement for their forthcoming match against Fiji. "I coached Bundee for several years and know him really well and respect him massively as a player. He's a great contributor to the team environment. "I've only had glancing conversations with Sione but again, by all accounts a champion bloke. "You don't get to be captain of a national team without being a great bloke and really professional in those high-performance environments. They are real athletes, those two together, so that'll be really interesting." The number of overseas-born players in Andy Farrell's 38-man squad has been a talking point ahead of the tour Down Under. Ireland's James Lowe and Jamison Gibson-Park and Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe and Pierre Schoeman qualified for their nations through residency, while Finlay Bealham and Mack Hansen can represent Ireland through family. Lions attack coach Richard Wigglesworth responded to Schmidt's barb by declaring everyone in the squad has earned the right to be there. "I don't know if they are questioning their commitment. Everyone has earned the right to pull on the Lions jersey," Wigglesworth said. "They are, to a man, incredibly proud to be here. It is not your background or how you have got here, it's what sort of player you are and what sort of man you are. We have got great men and great players."


The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Why does Damien Duff annoy the celebration police so much? People need to relax – unless he goes full Alan Pardew
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Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
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British and Irish Lions v Argentina: Key head to head battles
Andy Farrell finally gets the chance to run the rule over 23 of his British and Irish Lions squad tonight when they take to the field against Argentina in Ballsbridge. The Lions head coach is without all but one of his Leinster contingent and he is also resting Bath out-half Finn Russell after the Cup winning exploits on both sides of the Irish Sea last weekend. From an Irish angle there are three starters in the home side, with Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne and Finlay Bealham getting the nod. An opening win would be welcomed from a morale-boosting viewpoint but it will be an interesting exercise in seeing how various combinations perform. Fin Smith v Tomas Albornoz Andy Farrell wants those starting tonight to immediately put pressure on those in the stands and this is a big chance for the England out-half to lay down a marker on his return to the Aviva for the first time since Northampton's win over Leinster. Albornoz has made a rapid and impressive improvement under Felipe Contepomi and will look to unlock the Lions' still developing defence. Finlay Bealham v Mayco Vivas From not being in the original Lions squad to starting in the opening game of the campaign, it's quite the transformation for Connacht tighthead Bealham. With some doubts still around Tadhg Furlong's fitness but who is on the bench tonight, Farrell will hope that Bealham steps up to the challenge. Vivas, who plays for Gloucester, has close to 30 Pumas caps so is an experienced rival. Sione Tuipulotu v Justo Piccardo A highlight of the night should be the Tuipulotu/Bundee Aki partnership, one with the potential to be a hugely physical and potent combination at centre. After missing the Six Nations, Tuipulotu was returning to his best as the club season ended. Piccardo's only Test appearance came in Dublin in November, when he came off the bench. This should be a fearsome test for the 23-year-old.