𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Also in to Lions camp this week is Blair Kinghorn, still perhaps feeling it a bit after some pretty wild celebrations in Paris on Saturday night having helped Toulouse secure another Top 14 title. He didn’t perhaps make the best impression on his skipper, either…

Ben White revealed he was shaking with excitement after getting the call to leave Scotland’s summer tour squad and join up with the British and Irish Lions.

The Toulon scrum-half was preparing to go out and train with the Scots at their base in Whangarei, New Zealand on Monday morning before receiving a phone-call from Lions head coach Andy Farrell inviting him to Australia for Lions duty following the injury-enforced withdrawal of Welshman Tomos Williams.

In an interview with Scottish Rugby just before he left to fly to Queensland, 27-year-old White said: “It’s pretty crazy, he called me this morning and I haven’t stopped shaking since.

On Monday, following scans in Brisbane after a bit of a delay getting away from Perth, the Lions confirmed the bad news: Tomos Williams is out of the tour. The Welsh contingent in the squad is down to one.

His misfortune nonetheless brings opportunity for another, though, and Scotland’s Ben White has flown quickly across the Tasman to join up with his new squad-mates and provide scrum-half cover.

The Lions got their first win of the tour on the board in Perth on Saturday, with their strength in depth showing as they pulled away with the Western Force – but injury to Tomos Williams put a downer on an otherwise very positive showing.

The British and Irish Lions tour continues in Brisbane, with the tourists swapping coasts from west to east for their second game Down Under. Andy Farrell’s side grace Suncorp Stadium little more than a fortnight before taking on the Wallabies at the venue, with a dangerous Queensland Reds side their hosts in the first midweek fixture of the 10-match itinerary.