Latest news with #JackvanPoortvliet
The Independent
a day ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Steve Borthwick wants as many England players as possible involved with Lions
England head coach Steve Borthwick wants 'as many England players as possible' involved with the Lions as he prepares an unfamiliar lineup to face France at Twickenham on Saturday. There are five uncapped names in an experimental England squad that was announced on Thursday, three of whom are set to start the match, with 14 players currently in Dublin with Andy Farrell's side for Friday's game against Argentina following Jack van Poortvliet's call-up this week. Amongst those playing from the start in west London will be Gloucester centre Seb Atkinson, selected after an impressive year in what was only a second professional season at Kingsholm for the 23-year-old, during which he ranked top in carries, tackles, and passes amongst centres in the Premiership. With this summer's tour of Argentina and the United States overlapping with the Lions' time in Australia, Borthwick is looking forward to experimenting with his side beyond Saturday's non-cap international. 'We've spoken very publicly, we want as many England players in that Lions squad as possible,' he said. 'JVP is over there at the minute with them. There might be situations where other England players join that squad and we'll be delighted for our players to do that. 'It creates opportunities for others in the England squad. What I'm seeing so far this week is players grabbing that opportunity. 'Seb Atkinson, starting at 12 this week, the way he has embraced training, the way he's jumped into it. He's smashed every record we have on GPS in terms of his running. 'We have a group of players – Sladey (Henry Slade), Tommy Freeman, Freddie Steward – Seb has come in and put himself right in that mix or even just above that. When that happens, you're raising the standard of everybody.' Also set to start on Saturday is Bath flanker Guy Pepper fresh from a starring role in Saturday's Premiership final win over Leicester. The 22-year-old, who was awarded man of the match as Bath ended a 29-year wait for the title, was called up to train with the team during the 2024 Six Nations having made an impression on Borthwick during his time at Newcastle. 'You've seen enormous growth in Guy,' he said. 'The first time I met Guy was about 18 months ago at a hotel in Newcastle airport. I had a coffee with Guy and watched his game the next day. 'He hurt his hip and had to leave the field after about 30 minutes but in that 30 minutes he played so well. I thought then this is a player that's got a future in the England team. 'Since then his game has grown and grown. You saw his performance Saturday in the Premiership final, he's been tremendous. I'm looking forward to seeing him at this level.' Borthwick pointed to the emergence of Tom Curry for England in 2017 when the Lions were touring as reason why Saturday's non-cap match should be respected. 'The way change happens is, when opportunity comes along, somebody grabs it,' said Borthwick. 'The players understand that. 'The number of players in 2017 who emerged on that tour that summer who played such significant roles in a team that went to the World Cup final a few years later in 2019, the likes of Sam Underhill, Tom Curry, Mark Wilson emerged on that tour. 'That's the opportunity that presents itself this summer.'
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Lions v Argentina: TV details, kick-off time, team news and more
Who is playing, when and where? The British & Irish Lions are playing against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday. Kick-off is at 8pm. It will be the first game the Lions play before travelling to Australia, and the first time the Lions have played a match in Ireland. How can I watch? TG4 will broadcast the match, in exclusive free-to-air live coverage in a co-production partnership with S4C, starting at 7.20pm. Sky Sports have rights to the whole tour – you can watch Friday's game on Sky Sports Main Event from 7pm. And you can follow live blog coverage on the Irish Times website. James Lowe in Lions training. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho How are the Lions looking, and what are their chances? As you would expect from a side with the best players from four nations, the Lions are strong on paper but it is always a question of how well they gel together. They will arguably face a tougher test against Argentina, the fifth-ranked team in the world (ahead of England), than they will against Australia, who are ranked eighth. Argentina have never won on Irish soil but came close at the same stadium last November, losing narrowly by 22-19. What is the team news? The team will be announced at 4.30pm. England's Jack van Poortvliet has been added to the British & Irish Lions squad as cover for Jamison Gibson-Park, who missed Leinster's URC final win over Bulls with a minor glute strain. The injury to the Irish scrumhalf is not considered serious and he will travel to Australia, where he is tipped to start for the games against Australia in July. Hugo Keenan and Tadhg Furlong are also in a race to be fit for the game after missing the final. READ MORE What's the Lions squad line-up? Forwards (21): Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby/Ireland) Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England) Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks/England) Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland) Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England) Ben Earl (Saracens/England) Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Ireland) Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England) Maro Itoje (Saracens/England)(capt) Rónan Kelleher (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) Joe McCarthy (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales) Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints/England) Andrew Porter (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) James Ryan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) Dan Sheehan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland) Will Stuart (Bath Rugby/England) Josh van der Flier (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) Backs (17): Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby/Ireland) Elliot Daly (Saracens/England) Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England) Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) Mack Hansen (Connacht Rugby/Ireland) Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland) Hugo Keenan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland) James Lowe (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England) Garry Ringrose (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) Finn Russell (Bath Rugby/Scotland) Fin Smith (Northampton Saints/England) Marcus Smith (Harlequins/ England) Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland) Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland) Tomos Williams (Gloucester Rugby/Wales) Cover: Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers/England)
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
British and Irish Lions tickets are still available - with the cheapest seats priced at £126 - ahead of first ever match in Dublin
Tickets for this Friday's clash between the British and Irish Lions and Argentina in Dublin are still available, though they will cost fans a hefty €148 (£126). The Lions - comprised of the best players from across the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish rugby union sides - will play their first warm-up clash of this year's tour on Friday evening in Dublin. They will then jet off to Australia, where they will take on the Wallabies in a three-match series, after a number of warm-up clashes. However, with the Lions looking to receive a send off in style ahead of the tour, there are still a number of available seats for the clash with the Pumas in the Irish capital later this week. For fans just after one ticket, then the cheapest remaining seats will set them back, €148 (£126), while anyone looking for two will have to pay a minimum of €190 (£162) on ticketmaster to be able to sit with a friend or family member. The Lions underwent a training camp in Portugal ahead of the game as Farrell and his coaching staff begin to get a better understanding of who might feature in their matchday 23 for Friday. However those plans appear to have taken a slight hit, with New Zealand-born Ireland international Jamison Gibson-Park's fitness looking like a subject of consternation. As such, The British and Irish Lions have added England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet to their squad. Lions head coach Andy Farrell knows Gibson-Park well from their time working together with Ireland and the New Zealand-born back is widely considered to be the leading contender to start the Lions Tests against Australia this summer. England's Alex Mitchell and Wales' Tomos Williams are the other scrum-halves in the Lions squad as things stand. Mitchell and Williams were both a part of the Lions training camp in Portugal last week and as such, are likely to be in the matchday 23 for Argentina. The Lions said Leicester's Van Poortvliet, who played last Saturday in his domestic side's Gallagher Premiership final defeat by Bath, was joining their Ireland camp on Tuesday to provide training cover so there are three specialist No 9's fit for training.
Irish Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Jamison Gibson-Park out - as fans complain about outrageous Lions tickets prices
Jamison Gibson-Park is struggling with a 'minor glute strain' and will not be available for Lions selection this Friday night against Argentina. Jack van Poortvliet has been called into the training panel as cover behind Wales's Tomos Williams - who is expected to start on Friday night - and England's Alex in the Leicester Tigers-based van Poortvliet ahead of Craig Casey would suggest the Munster scrum-half is, at least, fifth in Andy Farrell's thinking when it comes to loss of Gibson-Park further limits the number of Ireland players in line for a starting role against is reportedly not keen on starting any of the eight Leinster players who began last Saturday's URC Grand Final against Bulls nor of using any of three who missed the match because through injury - the Irish options are Kelleher may get a role as he was on the bench last Saturday while Connacht's Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen, Finlay Bealham and Munster's Tadhg Beirne are in the may have five players in the mix from the 16 in the squad but it is a poor return for a game - which does not award Lions caps - and for which the lowest priced tickets for the Aviva are €158.A cost that has drawn criticism from many quarters and compares very unfavourably with the list prices for the rest of the non-Test games on the Tour (see panel).* vs Western Force, Perth, from €58* vs Queensland Reds, Brisbane, €67* vs NSW Waratahs, Canberra, €105* vs Aus & NZ, Adelaide €61* vs Australia, First Test, Brisbane, €231 (cheapest tkt remaining as ground is 96 percent sold out)* vs TBC, Victoria, €75* vs Australia, Second Test, Melbourne, €85* vs Australian, Third Test, €242 (cheapest tkt remaining as ground is 99 percent sold out)(source Viagogo).Meanwhile, given the Lions will not have Conan and van der Flier as they were playing last Saturday and Caelan Doris is not touring because of an Ben Earl has been confirmed as down to start but with fans trying to guess which position Lions management see as best for him - it may shed an important light as to how Farrell is shaping the Test team played at no7 at club level, the Saracens-based Earl was used by England at no8 in all four of their November internationals, losses to the All Blacks, Australia, South Africa and a win over was also at no8 for the opening Six Nations loss to Ireland before being switched to no7 for the next three games and finishing at no8 against Wales. England won their last four Six Nations matches to finish second in the table."I really don't mind where I'm played, I'm just happy to play, happy to perform as well as I can, it depends now everyone wants to set it up," says Earls simply."We play three low to the ground players whereas the team might do things differently so, there's flexibility in the group which is cool."I think I probably thought that I was just a no7 a couple of years back. As of recently I've tried to free my shackles a little bit more, try not to be necessarily tied down by what's the role, more what does the role require from me. Almost flipping it on its head. "But I trust the coaches whereby if they pick you in a position, they trust you are going to get the job done."Sometimes you are thinking too much about what's required instead of cracking on. Bringing your best stuff might be enough. Yeah, I try not to be bogged down by numbers too much. It certainly felt that way with the England team for a while."Earls will bring recent first-hand experience of playing against Australia to the Lions party and he suggests they have improved in recent times."You look at that team from one to 23. The best team they can put out is a pretty impressive team. Their cohesiveness and their home advantage makes them a really big challenge and one that we're certainly not going to take lightly."It's a Lions tour at the end of the day, we've got some unbelievable opportunities to make history."Correct me if I am wrong but the last time the Lions team won a series was Australia 2013, so we've got a massive opportunity to change the narrative a little bit."Any Lions team you play against is going to be a good fixture so yeah, we are really looking forward to going after this."It would be difficult to imagine Andy Farrell playing any of the current Ireland no7's at no8 but Steve Borthwick has been his own man at England albeit, says Earls, the two coaches are quite similar in many ways."Steve set out a stall sort of at the end of November internationals and beginning of the Six Nations saying he wanted as many England players on the plane, so like we got a fair few and that's great and we might get a few more depending on how things go."Steve has coached with the Lions. He knows what's required and I felt like he carried that through to coaching us at England. A coach that's got that experience it's going to be good for us, yeah it definitely helps"Both coaches that require high performance, that require hard work, require physicality want to win so I guess when you've got those building blocks you are never going to be too far away regardless of personality both do things slightly differently."But I don't think there is any right or wrong way; however, it is you try to get the best out of the group. There's many ways to skin a cat in this regard."I wish the England team all the best this summer, I know Steve will do a great job with that and obviously I'm focusing on here and trusting that Andy and the management will get the job done as well."Moreover, Earls' recent experience of playing the Wallabies has him all too aware that have been improving under Joe Schmidt. "You look at that team from one to 23. The best team they can put out is a pretty impressive team. Their cohesiveness and their home advantage makes them a really big challenge and one that we're certainly not going to take lightly."It's the Lions tour at the end of the day, we've got some unbelievable opportunities to make history."Correct me if I am wrong but the last time the Lions team won a series was in Australia 2013, so we've got a massive opportunity to change the narrative a little bit."Any Lions team you play against is going to be a good fixture so yeah, we are really looking forward to going after this."
The 42
4 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
Lions call up van Poortvliet as cover for Gibson-Park injury
THE BRITISH AND Irish Lions have called England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet into their training camp in Dublin as cover. Ireland's Jamison Gibson-Park is managing what the Lions say is a 'minor glute strain' and head coach Andy Farrell is keen to have a third scrum-half training along with Alex Mitchell and Tomos Williams. Advertisement Gibson-Park missed Leinster's URC final win over the Bulls last weekend due to his glute injury, so the Lions are clearly keen to ensure it heals as soon as possible, given how important the Ireland scrum-half is set to be on the tour of Australia. There is no indication that Gibson-Park's trip Down Under is under threat at this stage, with the Lions seemingly confident that the scrum-half will overcome his glute issue soon. Head coach Farrell had to replace tighthead prop Zander Fagerson in his touring squad after the Scotland tighthead prop was ruled out with a calf injury. Ireland's Finlay Bealham replaced Fagerson. The Lions will face Argentina in Dublin on Friday night before flying out on Saturday.
