British and Irish Lions Squad Revealed Ahead Of Springboks Clash

The British and Irish Lions are marginal favourites to win their summer series against South Africa after Warren Gatland unveiled his touring squad on Thursday.

There were shock inclusions for the likes of Exeter Chiefs Back-row Sam Simmonds and Ireland’s Bundee Aki and Jack Conan, but some high-profile absentees were headlined by the currently-sidelined Leinster captain Johnny Sexton, who misses out having taken part in the last two tours.

It was the series hosts who saw their odds clipped in the hours after the announcement, as BoyleSports moved to trim South Africa slightly into 11/10 from 6/5 for a series victory, while the Lions saw their 8/11 odds on Thursday morning eased to 4/5.

A 3-0 whitewash for South Africa has even seen support and shortened into 7/2 from 9/2 within hours of Gatland’s announcement, but his side remain favourites with a 2-1 series victory (7/4) singled out as the most likely outcome.

The Lions are still on course to start the series as odds-on favourites although it appears omissions like Johnny Sexton, James Ryan and Garry Ringrose haven’t gone down well with Irish punters.