The British & Irish Lions reported a clean bill of health after returning from their training camp in Portugal, with 15 players who featured in domestic finals at the weekend joining up with the squad Monday ahead of the tour opener against Argentina.
It meant only one selected player — Scotland fullback Blair Kinghorn — was yet to link up with the Lions squad.
Kinghorn remains on club duty with Toulouse, which is competing in the Top 14 semifinals in the France league on Friday, and could be away for a further week if his team reaches the final.
Otherwise, Lions coach Andy Farrell appears to be in a strong position at the end of the club season in Britain and Ireland, with his contingent of players from English teams Bath and Leicester — who met in the Premiership final on Saturday — and Irish province Leinster — who won the URC final on Saturday — seemingly in healthy enough shape.
Three Leinster players — scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park, prop Tadhg Furlong and fullback Hugo Keenan — didn’t play in the 32-7 win over the Bulls but were still in line to join up with the Lions.
The returning 15 will take part in their first training session with the Lions on Tuesday, the team said. If any of those players do feature against Argentina in Dublin on Friday, their involvement will likely be limited.
Because of the reduced number of players at the six-day training camp in Quinta do Lago, Farrell called up England front-rowers Jamie George and Asher Opoku-Fordjour to help with practice sessions. They will train for the last time Monday before returning to their clubs, the Lions said.
After the Argentina game, the Lions will fly Down Under for a nine-match tour of Australia containing three tests against the Wallabies.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
