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The 8 Southern Hemisphere-raised Lions heading Down Under
By Neil Fissler
Andy Farrell hasn’t been shy in picking players from the Southern Hemisphere to try and achieve a series win in Australia this summer.
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Seven of the eight players born outside Great Britain and Ireland come from either South Africa, New Zealand or hosts Australia, while another, Marcus Smith, was born in the Philippines.
But it is nothing new. As far back as 1904, Guys Hospital players Pat McEvedy and Arthur O’Brien were part of the Lions squad that travelled to their native New Zealand.
It has continued almost unabated since then. Lions legend Ronan O’Gara was born in San Diego, while Brendan Mullin and Jamie Heaslip were both born in Israel, a country not known for being a hotbed of rugby.
These are Farrell’s Southern Hemisphere legion.
Pierre Schoeman
The Edinburgh and Scotland loosehead was born in Nelspruit in north-east South Africa, was educated at the University of Pretoria and was capped by the Springboks at under-18 and under-20 levels. He moved to Edinburgh from the Bulls in 2018 and qualified to play for Scotland through residency in October 2021.
Bundee Aki
The Connacht and Ireland inside centre was born in Auckland and educated at Manurewa High School. He also qualified to play for Samoa through his parents and completed a three-year residency period after moving to Ireland in 2014. He holds dual New Zealand and Irish citizenship.
Duhan van der Merwe
The Edinburgh and Scotland winger was born in George on the Western Cape. Also educated at the University of Pretoria, he played for the Springboks at under-20 level. He qualified for Scotland in 2020 after living in Edinburgh for three years and is the country’s record try scorer.
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Sione Tuipulotu
The Glasgow Warriors and Scotland inside centre, like his younger brother Mosese, qualifies for Gregor Townsend’s side on ancestry grounds through their grandmother Jaqueline Thomson, who hails from Greenock. The Melbourne-born brothers could also play for Tonga through their father. Sione has played for Australia A.
James Lowe
The Leinster and Ireland winger was born in Nelson, the second biggest city on the South Island, and educated at Nelson College. He joined Leinster from the Chiefs and qualified for Ireland on residency grounds. In 2025, Lowe and his wife became Irish citizens along with 5,000 others.
Mack Hansen
The Connacht and Ireland winger was born in Canberra and won caps for the Australia under-20 side while playing for the Brumbies. He was educated at Daramalan College, a Roman Catholic high school, and moved to Connacht in 2021. He qualifies for Ireland through his Cork-born mother.
Jamison Gibson-Park
The Leinster and Ireland scrum-half was born on Great Barrier Island in central Auckland. He had unsuccessful trials for the New Zealand under-20 squad and represented the Maori All Blacks. After moving to Leinster in 2016, he qualified for Ireland in August 2019 and won his first cap under Farrell in October 2020.
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Huw Jones
The Glasgow Warriors and Scotland centre may have been born in the country he represents but learnt his trade after travelling to South Africa in his gap year, taking a job at Bishops in Cape Town. He was spotted by Western Province and the Stormers while playing for the Ikey Tigers.
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Huw Jones doesn’t belong to this list.
With the international rugby residency requirement being extended from 3 to 5 years will this be the most SH players in a lions squad? 6 players here qualifying through residency and Schoeman being the last player to qualify for the 3 years rule?
5 years feel much more reasonable going forward.
It doesn’t feel great having so many SH players in the British and Irish Lions (wish the Lions was more like State of Origin personally) but can’t complain when they qualified under the rules that were relevant at the time, they are British and Irish qualified, so more power to them many of these guys have been there yonks an
Rugby is now a professional game and player qualification is very clear and the same for everyone. These players were mostly discarded by their previous home country so they moved for better opportunities and were developed or their talent was recognised by their adopted nation so good luck to them and Good Luck to the Lions. Lets not pretend that RA and NZRU have different qualification criteria to the rest of the world. The ‘half wits’ on here who just want to put a negative spin in the comments section should wake up and look forward to a much anticipated and exciting Lions series.
Very well said. If there’s an issue with eligibility laws, then they need to be changed for all teams. As it stands, these guys all qualify and you can see what it means to them to be recognised in this way.
Lol. 7 genuine SH players developed in SH systems. Hilarious
British Commonwealth & Irish Lions!
I have to say that I am uncomfortable that these players are included, except Huw Jones.
It's a bit arbitrary to allow them to play for Scotland and Ireland but prevent them from playing for the Lions though. If the rules need changing, they should be changed at country level.
Huw is the only genuine lion among them
I see that James Lowe was born in Nelson ‘the biggest city in the South Island’. Nelson is very much not the biggest city down there bruh. 😆
Nelson 56000 pop Dunedin 133,000 pop.