Owen Farrell has been left out of the British and Irish Lions matchday squad for the first Test against Australia, with Marcus Smith selected on the bench instead.
The decision represents a major surprise given Farrell's pedigree and recent call-up to replace the injured Elliot Daly.
The 33-year-old former England captain made his first appearance of the tour in Saturday's 48-0 victory against an AUNZ invitational XV.
However, according to the Telegraph, he will not feature in the squad for Saturday's clash at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium, barring late injuries in Wednesday's training session.
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|Owen Farrell has been left out of the British and Irish Lions matchday squad for the first Test against Australia, with Marcus Smith selected on the bench instead
Smith's versatility in covering the back three positions may have proved decisive in his selection over Farrell.
Tom Curry has secured a starting position in the back row for the first Test, partnering Tadhg Beirne at blindside flanker.
The Sale Sharks star has been selected despite not producing his most impressive performances during the tour.
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|Marcus Smith will be named on the bench for the British and Irish Lions' clash with Australia
Henry Pollock, the promising 20-year-old England flanker, has been excluded from the matchday 23.
The selection proved highly competitive, with Jac Morgan, Josh van der Flier and Ben Earl all having delivered stronger individual displays than Curry.
Curry's selection appears based on his Test match experience, having started all three Tests during the 2021 series against South Africa.
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Beirne, who has captained the Lions twice on tour, will operate at blindside despite recently acknowledging he feels "more settled in the second row spot".
Farrell's omission comes after an injury-disrupted season with Racing 92, where he struggled with a groin problem.
He had not played for nearly nine weeks before joining the tour and has not featured in Test rugby since the 2023 World Cup.
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Richard Wigglesworth, the Lions assistant coach, praised Farrell's contribution on Tuesday, saying: "He's done exactly what we knew he was going to do in terms of help and influence, and obviously contributed on the field when that time came up."
Head coach Andy Farrell has consistently indicated he views his son primarily as an inside centre rather than a fly-half, which may have influenced the selection decision.
The selection decisions were finalised during Monday night's coaches' meeting, with players informed at a squad meeting on Wednesday ahead of their main performance training session.
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Wigglesworth revealed the selection process was challenging, stating: "It certainly wasn't easy. Very conversational as it always has been the whole way through, as it was with the selection process.
"Willing to be challenged on it, everyone being able to voice an opinion and then we come back to it and back to it again."
Andy Farrell has praised Curry's off-ball contributions, describing him as "a machine" whose "work rate, his stuff off the ball is very impressive". Ollie Chessum must settle for a bench role.