5 latest British & Irish Lions hopefuls - England wing backed for Test side

Week after week, the stars of the home nations have been putting their name forward, to earn a place upon the tour 'down under' this coming June. In this article, we will have a look at five hopefuls from across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, who were all in excellent form this past weekend for their clubs, as the Champions and Challenge Cup competitions surpassed the Round of 16 stage.

Tommy Freeman is rapidly becoming one of the standout names in Northern Hemisphere rugby, and the Wallabies will have to start doing their homework to contain the Northampton Saints wing. Freeman's case for a place on the 2025 British & Irish Lions tour continues to grow stronger with each passing week, after the flyer scored in every round of the 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations and carried his form on in with his club colours in green, black and gold.

The dynamic Northampton Saints winger was in scintillating form this past weekend, as he added to his growing legend with a hat-trick of tries and a Player of the Match performance against Clermont Auvergne in the Champions Cup Round of 16. Once seen as an outside contender for the Lions, trailing big names like Ireland's James Lowe and Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe, 'Freemo' has now surged into contention as not just a squad member, but a genuine contender for a starting spot in the Lions XV.

If Freeman can maintain this trajectory, it’s hard to see him being overlooked by Andy Farrell. At this stage, his inclusion in the Lions squad looks highly likely — somewhere in the region of 85-90% — and if he keeps up this tremendous strike rate, don’t be surprised if he starts the opening Test this Summer.

Last weekend was an opportune time for Jack Crowley to prove himself to Andy Farrell, and put himself forward as the man who should lead the Lions in the 10 jersey this Summer. The fly half stepped up to the plate in Munster's narrow win over La Rochelle, with an expertly taken drop goal securing a 25-24 victory, and stunning an albeit impressed Ronan O'Gara from the Stade Rochelais dug-out.

Crowley led the Munster attacking line with an excellent commanding role, with the militant directions of a veteran army general barking orders at his powerhouse forwards and unleashing his outisde backs. Crowley also prides himself on his defensive capabilities, with a fearless approach to the contact area often seeing him chop down far bulkier locks or back row bruisers that are trying to break past him. Such a solid defensive skillset is mirrored only by Fin Smith, when considering Crowley's rival 10s for the Lions.

It is certainly a tough pecking order for the Irishman, with the likes of Finn Russell, Fin Smith and his fellow countryman Sam Prendergast all vying for the fabled red 10 jersey. Then throw into the mix the possibility of an Owen Farrell return or a Marcus Smith inclusion, and there is a stacked playing field of stars all gunning for the same shirt.

It was a disappointing time for Crowley during the latest 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations campaign, as he played second fiddle to Prendergast for the majority of the tournament. Despite the calls for Crowley's inclusion from any Irish fan outside of the province of Leinster, the Corkonian took a seat on the bench for each fixture, except the final round win over Italy. However, Prendergast's underwhelming efforts could well have soured his stock in the eyes of Andy Farrell, despite interim head coach Simon Easterby's insistence to start the Leinster young gun.

Given the wealth of contenders all pushing to be Andy Farrell's fly half, Jack Crowley's chances of making it on the plane currently sit around the 55% mark. Should the 25-year-old make his way to Australia, he would most likley be apart of the mid-week Lions side, that plays the warm-up matches against the Super Rugby teams. It's a tough call, but it's difficult to invision Crowley earning a Lions Test cap just yet, however, injuries could well open the door for a run out against the Wallabies.

For most former England players that have departed the land of the RFU for pastures new, it is difficult to asses the viability of a Lions tour inclusion due to a lack of Test match level rugby. This certainly applies to Owen Farrell's struggles at Racing 92, and Toulon's English assortment of Kyle Sinckler, Lewis Ludlam and David Ribbans, yet you could certainly argue a case for Jack Willis upon the 2025 Lions squad.

Due to the unique nature of the British & Irish Lions, Andy Farrell and his selectors can look far beyond the realms of the home nations when piecing together their team to tour 'down under'. The French Top 14 has become a Lions tour shop window throughout the past couple of seasons, with Willis cementing himself as a cornerstone of Stade Toulousain's successes.

Willis has come into his own as a world class back row operator, and was pivotal to the Toulouse side that won the 2023/24 Top 14 and Champions Cup double. The former Wasps man has only added to his status this current season, with 19 out of 20 starts across the six, seven and eight jerseys. Such versatility is a highly sort-after accolade from any touring coach, as Farrell could slot Willis into any of the back row shirts should injuries begin to take a toll upon his travelling squad.

This past weekend, Willis was at his mesmeric best in Toulouse's famous red and black, as the French side dispatched Sale Sharks for a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup. Despite having not played an international Test since the 2023 Rugby World Cup pool stages, Willis held his own against England's resident first choice flankers, with a Player of the Match performance getting the better of the Curry twins.

There is no denying Willis' capabilities, however the depth of back row talent must be considered when assessing his chances for the British & Irish Lions squad. Ben and Tom Curry both made solid claims for their own places upon the tour in the past Six Nations, as did Ireland's Caelan Doris and Josh van der Flier, Wales' Jac Morgan and Scotland's Rory Darge, Jamie Ritchie and Matt Fagerson. We back Willis with a 85% chance of making the tour, and expect him to take a seat on the bench for the Test matches behind a back row of Jac Morgan, Tom Curry and Caelan Doris.

Keeping his name in the mix as a potential bolter for the Lions tour, Scotland scrum half George Horne did himself plenty of favours with his recent performance in the Champions Cup. The Glasgow Warriors halfback orchestrated the tempo of an unfaltering attack, as the Scottish side dumped Leicester Tigers out of the tournament with a resounding 43-19 win.

Horne even got his name on the score-sheet, as the Scotstoun Stadium crowd lapped up the one-way traffic of the Warriors' victory. The 29-year-old made a couple of appearances for Scotland during the 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations, as he was called up to the replacements for the first and fourth round wins over Italy and Wales. Understandably, Horne has plenty to do, if he wants to be considered for the Lions squad this Summer, but solid shifts on the Test match stage is certainly a way to begin his claim.

The halfback has carried this solid form back to his club, and like the earlier discussed Freeman, Crowley and Willis, has proven himself to excel on the biggest stages. In the same manner that Freeman won the Premiership title with Northampton last season, Crowley lifted the URC crown with Munster prior to that, and Willis has an array of Top 14 and European winners medals in his cabinet, Horne was crucial to Glasgow's 2023/24 URC winning campaign.

The first choice scrum half for the business end of the season, Horne firmly surpassed Jamie Dobie to the Glasgow nine shirt, and has held on to the jersey for the majority of the current season as a proven playmaker. His experience upon the biggest stages propels him up the pecking order for Andy Farrell's side, yet contention against the likes of Jamison Gibson-Park, Ben White, Alex Mitchell and Tomos Williams makes it tougher for Horne to squeeze onto the plane bound for Australia. Currently, we stick 15-20% odds on Horne making the squad, in which he would be used to enhance the rest of the side.

We look to the EPCR Challenge Cup for our fifth and final entrant to this week's list of Lions hopefuls, as Ospreys hooker Dewi Lake was in flying form in last weekend's Welsh derby win. It was a real grudge match between the Ospreys and Scarlets, in the Round of 16 of the Challenge Cup, however, the Swansea side got a firm upper hand over their Llanelli counterparts, for a solid 36-14 win on home turf.

Lake played a solid role in the Ospreys triumph, as he muscled his way onto the score-line just two minutes before the half-time break. Aside from his five-point contribution over the whitewash, Lake has elevated his game to be more than a URC standard hooker, with exciting line breaks and the hands of a halfback making him stand out from a bulky Welsh pecking order.

The 25-year-old went head to head at the scrum, with his Wales positional rival Elliot Dee. Lake and Dee spent the best part of the hour jostling for dominance at the set-piece, just as they had done in their tug-o-war over the Wales two jersey throughout the 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations. Lake was unable to get a Test match start throughout the latest campaign, with Ryan Elias and Dee preferred in the shared views of Warren Gatland and then Matt Sherratt.

Dee made two replacement appearences in the Championship, as he took on the second half scrummaging strengths of Scotland and England towards the end of the tournament. Looking at the options that Andy Farrell has at hooker, the first choice man for the job is either his Ireland star Dan Sheehan or the experienced former England and Lions match-day captain Jamie George.

Lake would then enter the mix at the same rank as Luke Cowan-Dickie and his countrymen Elias and Dee, with Scotland contributing Ewan Ashman to the mix. With such a line-up of viable front row options, we can't propel Lake into the Test match squad just yet. We hand the Welshman a similar chance to that of George Horne to make the wider squad, with a 15-20% reckoning for a spot on the flight to Australia.

To make this a little bit more difficult, some of the more recent tours included multiple captains, with both needed to be named if you want to ace this Lions Tour quiz. You have six minutes to get all of your answers down, and your time starts... Now!