Irish Tighthead Tadgh Furlong has been called up to the Lions starting XV for their warm-up clash against Japan this Saturday at 3:00pm.
Furlong moves up from the bench to replace Scottish front row Zander Fagerson, who was ruled out due to back spasms. England front row Kyle Sinckler takes Furlongs initial spot amongst the replacements.
This is the second adjustment to the match day squad for this weekend, as Wales’ Justin Tipuric was called on to replace Scotland’s Hamish Watson in the back row, as Watson reportedly suffered a concussion in training.
The Leinster and Irish Prop is was in stellar form during the 2021 Six Nations and played all three test matches in the last Lions tour to New Zealand in 2017. Furlong’s intense approach to both the scrum and breakdown will undoubtedly add to the Lions performance come Saturday, not to mention his agile ball carrying.