Irish prop Finlay Bealham has been called into the British and Irish Lions squad ahead of the players assembling in Dublin for a six-day training camp in Portugal.
Scotland and Glasgow Warriors tight-head prop Zander Fagerson was ruled out of the Tour with a calf injury, with Bealham, who has 51 Irish caps, called up to replace him.
The Connacht tighthead prop has been a regular starter for Ireland in the absence of the injured Tadhg Furlong and played in all five of Ireland’s Six Nations Championship games, starting in four of them.
The squad will travel to Quinta do Lago on Tuesday, with those involved in the Premiership Rugby and URC finals joining in Ireland next week ahead of the 1888 Cup match against Argentina.
England’s Jamie George and Asher Opoku-Fordjour will also travel to Portugal to train with the squad. Saracens hooker George was a Lions Tourist in 2017 and 2021 - while Sale Sharks prop Opoku-Fordjour made his debut for England against Japan last November.
Lions head coach Andy Farrell said: “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. 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. Portugal will be really important for us as we look to get our house in order with only a few training sessions before we take on Argentina in the 1888 Cup in Dublin.”
Uncapped tighthead Jack Aungier has been called up to replace his Connacht team-mate for Ireland’s two Test summer tour of Georgia (July 5th) and Portugal (July12th).
Aungier has previously featured for Emerging Ireland on the tour to South Africa last autumn. He also trained with the senior squad during the recent Six Nations.
