Itoje: New call-ups are all worth their place

THE Lions have dismissed any chance of their recent call-ups suffering the same fate as Warren Gatland’s ‘Geography Six’ as they revealed some could head home before the end of the tour of Australia.

- BEN JAMES

In recent days, the likes of Jamie Osbourne, Jamie George and Thomas Clarkson have all been brought into the squad.

Yesterday head coach Andy Farrell added Scottish trio Darcy Graham, Rory Sutherland and Ewan Ashman to his squad as cover for next week’s clash with the First Nation and Pasifika XV in Melbourne, with the trio already in nearby Fiji with Scotland.

By Sunday, his original touring party of 38 will have ballooned to 44.

That has prompted comparisons to the six players Gatland called up for the Lions’ final midweek clash with the Hurricanes in 2017, with the Welsh quartet of Cory Hill, Gareth Davies, Kristian Dacey and Tomas Francis brought in as injury cover along with Scottish pair Alan Dell and Finn Russell.

The move was met with fierce criticism, with Joe Marler and Dan Cole refusing to be replaced by the call-ups amid feelings of resentment to the new faces in camp.

"I didn’t hear those stories, but I'd like to think our lads would be above that,” said Lions assistant coach John Dalziel.