Ben White delighted by ‘incredible honour' of Lions call-up
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.
'It's an incredible honour, I'm really excited. I called my mum and dad straight away, I don't think they could quite believe it. They were obviously just incredibly proud.
'It was just a great phone call to have. I've not thought about it too much as yet. It's something you dream of, but you never really think you'll do. I'm just incredibly proud.'
White – capped 25 times by Scotland since his debut in 2022 – admitted he was disappointed not to be included in the initial Lions squad.
'Obviously watching the squad being announced was tough, but it was an experience that I can put in the locker room,' he said. 'I knew I just had to do what I could and try and play well for my club, Toulon and obviously come here (to New Zealand).
'I was really excited to be on tour with Scotland. I was focused on that and if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. I guess someone's looking out for me upstairs and I've fallen on my feet.'
Scotland forwards coach Fergus Pringle is hopeful that White will not be the last player to be summoned from Gregor Townsend's squad by the Lions.
'I think Ben's not the only player that was probably close to getting picked initially and just missed out,' he said. 'He was really consistent over the Six Nations and over the season so everyone knew he deserved an opportunity but it happened pretty quickly to be honest.
'Andy Farrell phoned and the next thing this morning, Gregor (Townsend) was telling the team and the boys are buzzing and cheering and then Ben's off and we're off to the pitch to go and get training. It was just great to see the reaction of the boys and also his reaction was good.
'Lions tours are like any tours, there's always going to be injuries, as we've seen already. So like with Ben's situation, when Tomos Williams hobbles off with his hamstring and it doesn't look good, you're thinking, 'OK, maybe there's a chance here'. So it could easily happen again.'
Scotland have called up Sale scrum-half Gus Warr to fill White's place in the squad for their three matches against Maori All Blacks, Fiji and Samoa.
'It's a great opportunity for him,' said Pringle.
'He performed really well on the summer tour last year and from his perspective, a bit like Ben, it was tough on him not to get picked initially because he's been on real good form for Sale. It's a chance that he deserves and I'm sure he'll take it.'
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