- The British & Irish Lions face Argentina on Friday before heading to Australia
- England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet has been added to the squad in Dublin
- Van Poortvliet provides cover with Jamison Gibson-Park suffering a knock
The British & Irish Lions have added England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet to their squad ahead of their clash with Argentina in Dublin on Friday night.
Van Poortvliet’s addition raises further worry over the fitness of Leinster and Ireland No 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, who missed his club team’s United Rugby Championship final win over South African side Bulls last Saturday and is suffering with a minor glute strain.
Lions head coach Andy Farrell knows Gibson-Park well from their time working together with Ireland and the New Zealand-born back is widely considered to be the leading contender to start the Lions Tests against Australia this summer.
England’s Alex Mitchell and Wales’ Tomos Williams are the other scrum-halves in the Lions squad as things stand.
Mitchell and Williams were both a part of the Lions training camp in Portugal last week and as such, are likely to be in the matchday 23 for Argentina.
The Lions said Leicester’s Van Poortvliet, who played last Saturday in his domestic side’s Gallagher Premiership final defeat by Bath, was joining their Ireland camp on Tuesday to provide training cover so there are three specialist No 9’s fit for training.
Jack van Poortvliet has joined the British & Irish Lions squad for their game with Argentina
The England man has been added with Jamison Gibson-Park nursing a minor glute injury
Tomos Williams (pictured) and Alex Mitchell are the two likely No 9’s to face Argentina
Farrell will be desperate to have Gibson-Park available for the trip to Australia and at this stage, it looks unlikely that he will be ruled out of the trip.
However, his glute issue has opened the door for either Mitchell or Williams to make the first impression.
The Lions face Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday before then flying to Australia in three separate flights over the weekend.
Farrell will name his team for Argentina on Wednesday.
