Jamie George has been quickly drafted into the British and Irish Lions squad ahead of the upcoming First Test against Australia.
The Saracens front-row stalwart - one of the headline omissions from the original 38-man touring party - will head to Brisbane as cover for fellow England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie, who was stretchered off with a head injury wearing a protective brace during the first half of Saturday’s 48-0 win over an AUNZ Invitational XV in Adelaide.
Though Cowan-Dickie was quickly then seen walking around in good spirits on the sidelines, he looks set to miss the series opener against the Wallabies next weekend, leaving only Ronan Kelleher as back-up for presumed Test starter Dan Sheehan.
Head coach Andy Farrell admitted after the game that he would likely call up an additional hooker, with two-time tourist George the most obvious option having been with the Lions squad already this summer in a training capacity during their pre-tour camp in Portugal.
A two-time Lion, Jamie will join up with the squad in Brisbane! 👋🦁#Lions2025 pic.twitter.com/Nzb2xPcR6V
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 12, 2025
The Lions have had to move quickly to draft in George, who had been due to co-captain a heavily weakened England side in their Second Test against Argentina in San Juan on Saturday night, having played a key role in their initial 35-12 victory over the Pumas in La Plata last weekend.
George will now play no part against Argentina as he gets ready to head to Brisbane, with Saracens team-mate Theo Dan starting at hooker instead and Northampton’s Curtis Langdon added to the bench by Steve Borthwick as he prepares to earn only his third senior international cap.
George will also be absent as England then head to Washington D.C. for a one-off match against the USA at Audi Field next weekend.
Jamie Osborne has left the Ireland squad in Portugal to also travel to Brisbane after on Thursday being called up by Farrell as training cover, with a knee sprain putting full-back Blair Kinghorn in a race against time to be fit for the First Test against Australia.
It remains to be seen if Farrell will elect to add any further new faces to the group next week, with centre Garry Ringrose ruled out of the First Test after suffering from a concussion in the aftermath of the midweek win over the ACT Brumbies in Canberra.
