Ireland's Craig Casey and Scotland's Ben White on tenterhooks for Lions call
Craig Casey may have to go to the airline check-in desk to switch his flight from Tbilisi to Brisbane.The Munster scrum-half is due to captain Ireland on their two game Summer Tour which consists of fixtures against Georgia and Portugal.But with Lions scrum-half Tomos Williams having to leave the field in the second period against Force, which has put his continued participation on the British and Irish Lions tour in doubt, there is a distinct possibility Casey will be rerouted.
Head coach Andy Farrell opted not to give a post-match injury update on scrum-half Williams before the squad flew on to Queensland and bedded down in Brisbane.But things don't look good for the Welshman and, coupled with the uncertainty surrounding Jamison Gibson-Park's injury, it may be decided he is going home. There will be some clarity on this situation provided this morning.
Scotland's Ben White and Craig Casey are the contenders to replace JGP.White may be the favourite, though, given he is Finn Russell's international scrum-half, starting all five games in the 2025 Six Nations alongside the out-half - and scoring three tries.The Scot, 27, trumps Casey in terms of experience having started his career spending six years at Leicester Tigers, debuting as the youngest player in their history.
A move to London Irish started brightly, three tries in his first 10 games gaining him a call up to the Scotland 2022 Six Nations squad, making his Scotland debut in the Calcutta Cup win over England, scoring a key try.
He appeared twice for Scotland at the 2023 Rugby World Cup following which he switched to play his club rugby at Toulon for whom he has started seven times and appeared from the bench another six times this season - whether that's considered lightly-used or not enough rugby will be Farrell's call.Meanwhile Casey has been given the Ireland captaincy for the summer tour to Georgia and Portugal which might be a sign he was behind the Scot on the standby list.He is one of three scrum-halves in the Ireland panel, alongside Connacht's Ben Murphy and Ulster's Neil Doak.The Munster Player of the Year Awards don't happen until September and while Casey may have missed out on being nominated for the Ireland Mens' Senior Player of the Year award (Jamison Gibson-Park, Caelan Doris and Tadhg Beirne were) he did make the URC Dream XV.This is reserved for players who have played in 10 matches over the course of the regular season: Gibson-Park didn't play enough games; Alex Mitchell and Tomas Williams were ineligible as they play in England, as is White who plays in France.Clearly though, Casey's URC endorsement makes him the 'best of the rest' across the four Irish provinces, four Welsh franchises and two Scottish clubs.
'I definitely wanted to be there," said Casey of disappointment following the Lions squad's announcement. "I am gutted to be honest."You're waiting, hoping for your name to be called out, and then it went straight to Elliot Daly, that's when you know because of the alphabet.'I was actually with all the lads, we had just finished the captain's run for the game that weekend and we were out for lunch.'I was like, 'Nah, I'm rushing home'. They were like, 'Ah, stay'. I was like, 'Not a hope am I watching it with all ye dopes!''My parents and my girlfriend were working, so I said I'd watch it in a room by myself. And then I stayed in that room by myself for two-and-a-half hours after that!'I have just come off the back of an injury, so I wouldn't wish injury on any of the three scrum-halves that have been picked. They are really good players. I would like to think I'd be in contention if something did happen but again I'm probably not really in control of that."
Meanwhile should Casey be called up to the Lions squad it is unclear as to who Ireland have on standby.
Connacht's Caolin Blade is the last scrum-half other than Gibson-Park, Murray and Casey to have gained a senior cap, coming on a sub against South Africa in July 2024, playing 21 minutes. That was his fourth cap, all came as a sub.
Leinster's Luke McGrath is the last scrum-half to start a match for Ireland other than Gibson-Park/Murray/Casey and that was at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, against Russia, and that was under Joe Schmidt. Farrell, almost pointedly, jettisoned McGrath when he took control on the return from Japan.
Leinster's Year Two Academy scrum-half Fintan Gunne was a late call-up to the bench for the URC final against Bulls and, indeed, scored a fine try when he came in.
Ulster's Dan Shanahan, 31, has been with the club since 2013, made 99 appearances, and has just signed a contract renewal for next season.
Ireland Summer Tour Fixtures
Saturday, 5th July: Georgia v Ireland, Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi (kick off 9pm local time, 6pm Irish time).
Saturday, 12th July: Portugal v Ireland, Estádio Nacional do Jamor, Lisbon (kick off 7pm local, same Irish time).
Ireland Men's Squad – Summer Tour 2025
Player/Club/Province/Caps
Forwards (18): Tom Ahern (Shannon/Munster)*. Jack Aungier (Lansdowne/Connacht)*, Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster)(27), Jack Boyle (UCD/Leinster)(2), Thomas Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster)(6), Gavin Coombes (Young Munster/Munster)(2)Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster)(2), Cormac Izuchukwu (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(1), , Alex Kendellen (UCC/Munster)*, Gus McCarthy (UCD/Leinster)(4), Paddy McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster)*, Michael Milne (UCD/Munster)*, Darragh Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht)*, Tom O'Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(16), Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht)(4), Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley/Leinster)*, Tom Stewart (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(2), Nick Timoney (Banbridge/Ulster)(3)
Backs (14): Shayne Bolton (Connacht)*, Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster)(captain)(18), Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster)(24), Nathan Doak (Banbridge/Ulster)*, Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster)(8), Hugh Gavin (Galwegians/Connacht)*, Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster)(19), Ben Murphy (Clontarf/Connacht)*, Dermot Kilgallon (Munster)*, Jimmy O'Brien (Naas/Leinster)(8), Tommy O'Brien (UCD/Leinster)*, Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)(7), Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)(8), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster)(38)
+ Josh Murphy (Connacht) has been called up to train with the squad in case Tom Ahern fails a pre-flight fitness test
*denotes uncapped
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