Now that the dust has settled from British & Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell’s squad announcement on May 8, there has been plenty of analysis and reaction from pundits and fans alike.
But beyond the personal aspect of the 38 men selected lies a treasure trove of numbers and stats.
So, before the most important statistic becomes the number of Test matches won come August, let’s take a look at the numbers behind the 2025 Lions.
Captaincy first
The first player to be revealed as part of the touring side was England captain Maro Itoje. With two previous Lions Tours and six Test caps under his belt, the lock knows what it takes to wear the fabled red jersey.
Itoje also becomes the first Saracens player to be chosen as Lions tour captain and the 30-year-old is one of 13 players from England to make the cut
Ireland lead the way
The number of men from the island of Ireland is a record, edging past the 14 given the nod for the 2009 Tour to South Africa.
One of those players who wears green at international level and is going Down Under is Bundee Aki.
At 35, the centre is both the oldest back in an original touring party since Blackheath’s Ernest Hammett in 1927 to Argentina, and the oldest member of Farrell’s 2025 squad.
Back in 2005, Sir Clive Woodward set the record for the most players selected from a single club when he picked eight from Leicester Tigers.
Four years later, Sir Ian McGeechan – a Lions Test series winner as a player and coach – matched that record by picking eight players from Munster.
Farrell has bettered them both, extending that record to 12, with Leinster representing nearly a third of his squad.
However, despite the plethora of Irish talent on the plane to Australia, there will be no Ulster representatives, the first time a Lions party has not had any since 2005, and just one man - Tadhg Beirne – who plies his trade at Munster selected, the fewest from that province since 2001.
Scotland feeling gr-eight
Scotland can boast eight members of Farrell’s contingent – up from the two they had in the original squad back in 2017.
The selection of Glasgow Warriors’ quintet Sione Tuipulotu, Scott Cummings, Zander Fagerson and Huw Jones is also a Scottish record for a single club.
READ MORE: Making Of... Zander Fagerson
While Blair Kinghorn, who plays for French side Toulouse, becomes just the 12th player from an overseas club to make the grade, with the previous 11 having also all played their rugby across The Channel.
BIL the lion to be looked after by Pollock
The biggest cheer from inside the O2 during the announcement came when Northampton Saints prodigy Henry Pollock had his name read out.
A breakthrough season for both club and country – he scored twice off the bench on his England debut against Wales in March – has seen the 20-year-old, who will be the youngest Lion on the Tour, also become the youngest forward selected since Bryan West in 1968.
With both having played for Saints, it is only right to round off with the fact that the quartet selected from Phil Dowson’s side – Pollock, Tommy Freeman, Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith - has only been bettered once, when five were selected in 1997.
