British and Irish Lions: Fin Smith and Marcus Smith start vs Argentina in Dublin as Maro Itoje captains for first time | Rugby Union News

England’s Fin Smith will start the British and Irish Lions’ first game of the 2025 tour at fly-half against Argentina in Dublin on Friday, live on Sky Sports, with Marcus Smith named at full-back. 

Maro Itoje will captain the side for the first time as Andy Farrell’s charges face the Pumas in the Irish capital – the first match the Lions have played in Ireland – ahead of travelling to Australia for the rest of their summer tour.

Fin and Marcus Smith and Itoje are three of nine English players named in the starting XV, with three Irish, two Scottish and one Welshman – Jac Morgan – included.

Northampton Saints flanker Henry Pollock features among the replacements, while Leinster and Ireland hooker Ronan Kelleher, who is also on the bench, is the only player involved who played in last weekend’s domestic finals.

Tommy Freeman and Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe will combine with Marcus Smith in the back-three, while impactful centres Sione Tuipulotu of Scotland and Bundee Aki of Ireland are surprisingly paired from the start – both ordinarily inside-centre options – as Huw Jones misses out on the squad.

Scrum-half Alex Mitchell partners Northampton and Test colleague Fin Smith at half-back, with English duo Ellis Genge and Luke Cowan-Dickie combining with Ireland’s Finlay Bealham to form the front-row.

Tadhg Beirne partners Itoje in the second-row, while the starting back-row consists of Tom Curry at blindside flanker, Morgan at openside and Ben Earl at No 8.

Tadhg Furlong has shaken off a calf complaint to begin among the replacements, with Elliot Daly and Mack Hansen providing backline cover.

“Congratulations to Maro Itoje ahead of leading out the Lions for the first time – it is a truly special moment and one that very few players ever get to experience,” head coach Farrell said.

“Maro has led the group well during our time in Portugal and then Dublin this week. This is also our first opportunity to show what the 2025 Lions are about and what we want to stand for as a team.

“We know that Argentina will challenge us up front and out wide – so Friday night will be a tough contest, but also a great occasion for all the fans.”

British and Irish Lions squad to face Argentina in Dublin on Friday – live on Sky Sports

British and Irish Lions: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan Dickie, 3 Finlay Bealham, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Jac Morgan, 8 Ben Earl.

Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Elliot Daly, 23 Mack Hansen.

Argentina: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Justo Piccardo, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Garcia; 1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 3 Joel Sclavi, 4 Franco Molina, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 8 Joaquin Oviedo

Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Santiago Grondona, 20 Joaquin Moro, 21 Simon Benitez Cruz, 22 Matias Moroni, 23 Santiago Cordero

British & Irish Lions tour of Australia on Sky Sports

Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.