Jac Morgan and Tomos Williams will both be in action for the British and Irish Lions as the team takes on Argentina in Dublin on Friday night.

Morgan starts for the Lions in the back row, while Williams is expected to feature from the bench, with England scrumhalf Alex Mitchell preferred in the number nine jersey.

Tour captain Maro Itoje leads the team for the first time, with nine Englishmen in the starting XV.

Perhaps the most notable part of the team is that Andy Farrell has chosen a centre partnership of Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu, with the latter shifting wide of his usual inside role into the 13 shirt.

Wales captain Morgan will wear the number seven shirt, with England’s Tom Curry and Ben Earl joining him in the second row. Tadhg Beirne, Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, and Finlay Bealham making up the rest of the forward pack.

Bealham comes straight into the starting line-up, having been a late Lions call-up, due to Will Stuart and Tadhg Furlong’s club commitments.

Furlong, who missed Leinster’s successful United Rugby Championship final with the Bulls last Saturday and is still battling injury, is one of two players from the Dublin-based region to feature in the squad, with Ronan Kelleher also on the bench.

Pierre Schoeman is the other front row cover, while Scott Cummings, Henry Pollock, Williams, Elliot Daly, and Mack Hansen are also selected.

Hansen and Furlong have struggled with injury issues in recent weeks and months, but it seems Scotland centre Huw Jones is still not ready to feature.

In the backs, Fin Smith gets an chance to make his case for the Lions number 10 shirt, and partners club and country teammate Mitchell.

Duhan van der Merwe, Tommy Freeman, and Marcus Smith make up the back three.

With Hugo Keenan and Blair Kinghorn both still not ready to be selected after the club season, Smith represents a makeshift option at fullback.

The tour party’s two Welshmen are also first-timers.

Wales captain Jac Morgan starts in the back row while Gallagher Premiership player of the season Tomos Williams is on the bench as scrum-half cover.

Backs Aki, Marcus Smith and Duhan van der Merwe, as well as forwards Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry were all also part of the tour to South Africa four years ago.

Skipper Itoje, as well as replacements Furlong and Elliot Daly, were on that trip as well as the visit to New Zealand four years prior.

The touring party will depart for the southern hemisphere after the fixture, with their first game in Australia against the Western Force in Perth on 28 June.

For the visitors, Julian Montoya will lead Argentina in their first match against the Lions since a highly entertaining 25-25 draw at the Millenium Stadium at the start of the 2005 tour of New Zealand.

Santiago Carreras, who will move to Bath from Gloucester this summer, is at full-back with Tomas Albornoz at fly-half.

Saracens flanker Juan Martin Gonzalez is part of a back row completed by the experienced Pablo Matera and Perpignan number eight Joaquin Oviedo.

The Pumas are without several of their France-based players with Toulouse’s versatile back Juan Cruz Mallia and Bordeaux-Begles second row Guido Petti involved in the Top 14 play-offs. Prop Thomas Gallo is also absent.

The Pumas are ranked number five in the world after a number of high profile wins in 2024, including away in New Zealand and at home to South Africa. They are actually ranked higher than Australia (5 vs 8), who the Lions face in a three-match series in late July and August.

Teams

British and Irish Lions

Marcus Smith; Tommy Freeman, Sione Tuipulotu, Bundee Aki, Duhan van der Merwe; Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Finlay Bealham, Maro Itoje (capt), Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl.

Replacements

Ronan Kelleher, Pierre Schoeman, Tadhg Furlong, Scott Cummings, Henry Pollock, Tomos Williams, Elliot Daly, Mack Hansen.

Argentina

Santiago Carreras; Rodrigo Isgro, Lucio Cinti, Justo Piccardo, Ignacio Mendy; Tomas Albornoz, Gonzalo Garcia; Mayco Vivas, Julian Montoya (capt), Joel Sclavi, Franco Molina, Pedro Rubiolo, Pablo Matera, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Joaquin Oviedo.

Replacements

Bautista Bernasconi, Boris Wenger, Francisco Coria Marchetti, Santiago Grondona, Joaquin Moro, Simon Benitez Cruz, Matias Moroni, Santiago Cordero.

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