British & Irish Lions Team of the Week: ‘Bolter’ throws his name in the hat while ‘vintage’ Taulupe Faletau rolls back the years
Tom Jordan and Taulupe Faletau make our British & Irish Lions Team of Round Four.
With Round Four of the 2025 Six Nations in the books and the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia edging closer into view, it’s time to pick our Lions Team of the Week.
Incredibly there is no Ireland representation in this week’s line-up as England (eight) and Scotland (five) dominate after their wins while Wales have two players included.
British & Irish Lions Team of the Week
15 Blair Kinghorn (Scotland): A two-try performance from the now clear favourite for the Lions number 15 jersey. Kinghorn‘s pace when hitting the line is second to none in the Six Nations and he was excellent against Wales. He finished with 14 carries for 96 metres and gets the nod over England’s Marcus Smith.
14 Tommy Freeman (England): Just appears to be getting better with each Test he plays. His performance against Italy on Sunday once again showed a hunger for work and power in the contact area. While Darcy Graham had his moments for Scotland, Freeman’s 15 carries for 76 metres and try saw him shade it.
13 Elliot Daly (England): Daly has certainly taken his chances when they have come this Six Nations and this showing against the Azzurri once again illustrated his versatility. Starting the game at full-back before moving to centre, his vision and kick helped set up Freeman’s try as he is our number 13 over Huw Jones.
12 Tom Jordan (Scotland): Lions bolter? He could well be especially after the injuries to Sione Tuipulotu and Ollie Lawrence. Jordan can play in several positions and looks very much at home alongside Finn Russell at 12. Two crossings and 14 carries against Wales which means England’s Fraser Dingwall misses out.
11 Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland): Incredibly tough on Ollie Sleightholme after his two-try showing for England. However, despite not scoring in Scotland’s success, Van der Merwe did so much good around the field that created for others, often popping up in midfield to suck in defenders for those outside.
10 Finn Russell (Scotland): A much-improved performance after his struggles against the English in Round Three. Russell steered the Scotland ship nicely in the victory at Murrayfield with two try assists and five conversions to his name. Maturing England 10 Fin Smith was next in line after the weekend’s action.
9 Alex Mitchell (England): Mitchell lapped up the perfect conditions at Twickenham as he enjoyed the front-foot ball his pack provided. Ben White caught the eye for Scotland but Mitchell was the standout British & Irish nine of the round and looks to have now nailed down a touring shirt, possibly in the Test 23.
The forwards
8 Taulupe Faletau (Wales): Vintage Faletau. At 34 he is showing no signs of slowing down and it was incredible the work he got through against Scotland. 15 carries for a whopping 111 metres was only bettered by Ben Earl this Six Nations round as Faletau is our pick at number eight ahead of England’s Tom Willis.
7 Jac Morgan (Wales): A positional shift here as Morgan was simply too good to snub which is incredibly unlucky for the aforementioned Earl who racked up 112 metres. The Wales captain is looking more and more like a British and Irish Lions starter against the Wallabies and he never puts in an average outing.
6 Jamie Ritchie (Scotland): A player making a late dash for Lions honours is the former Scotland captain, who has been superb in recent matches for his country. Brilliant over the ball, a defensive rock and an excellent line-out option, Ritchie gets the shirt over Tom Curry while even sub?Ben Curry also impressed.
5 Ollie Chessum (England): The performance of his Six Nations to date, Chessum was everywhere for England on Sunday. His inclusion in the Red Rose side has taken their pack up a level and his numbers of eight carries for 58 metres that included four defenders beaten made him a lethal option with ball in hand.
4 Maro Itoje (England): Alongside Chessum is his captain Itoje who picked up a 9/10 in our player ratings. His leadership is improving with every outing and he was rock solid in all he did. It did look like Caelan Doris was nailed on Lions captain but one does wonder if Itoje is starting to press his case to Andy Farrell.
The step, the offload, the finish ???@EnglandRugby are entertaining the home crowd this afternoon as Marcus Smith runs in the bonus point try!#GuinnessM6N pic.twitter.com/GdGMFbvIQM
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 9, 2025
3 Will Stuart (England): We could watch that double side-step on repeat. Stuart bamboozled Italy hooker Giacomo Nicotera in the lead-up to Marcus Smith diving over and more importantly was excellent in his core duties. Stuart has really come into his own this year and gets the nod here over Zander Fagerson.
2 Jamie George (England): On his 100th international for England, George rolled back the years and appeared to savour every moment. His offload for Sleightholme’s second try was excellent while he was also solid in the set-piece. A special day that he will remember for a long time and one that makes him our No.2.
1 Ellis Genge (England): While two of his rival looseheads, Andrew Porter and Nicky Smith, did not cover themselves in glory over the weekend, Genge was impressively solid and busy around the field. Scotland prop?Pierre Schoeman was probably next best in the queue but Genge deservedly takes the final spot.
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