Scrumhalf Tomos Williams out of British and Irish Lions tour with a hamstring injury

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Tomos Williams has been ruled out of the British and Irish Lions rugby tour of Australia after injuring his left hamstring in the opening win over Western Force in Perth on the weekend.

Lions management confirmed Monday while announcing the squad to play Queensland that the Welsh scrumhalf had sustained a tour-ending injury and Toulon, France-based Scotland scrumhalf Ben White had been drafted into the squad.

“This is desperately sad news for Tomos and we wish him all the very best in his recovery," Lions tour manager Ieuan Evans said. "Tomos is an exemplary Lion who has had a brilliant season having joined the tour after being named as Premiership Rugby’s player-of-the-season.

“He lit up this Lions Tour with both his personality and his talent.”

Williams scored two tries in the 54-7 win over the Perth-based Force, limping off after finishing off a long-range try early in the second half.

The Lions are playing nine matches in Australia, including three test matches on July 19, 26 and Aug. 2.

Head coach Andy Farrell recalled tour captain Maro Itoje to lead the Lions on Wednesday night against Queensland in Brisbane, and he’ll pack down in the second row with fellow Englishman Ollie Chessum.

The matchday 23 has been overhauled again to give the full squad a chance to acclimatize.

Scotland flyhalf Finn Russell was retained at No. 10 in a new halves combination with Ireland scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park, who will make his Lions debut.

Bundee Aki and Glasgow and Huw Jones will form a new center combination.

Leinster and Ireland teammates Andrew Porter and Ronan Kelleher will join Bath tighthead Will Stuart in the front row. Ireland No. 8 Jack Conan will start in a bakrow that also contains Tom Curry and Jac Morgan.

“We know each game on this your will be a step up from the game before and three more players are set to make their Lions debuts on Wednesday night, so congratulations to those guys," Lions head coach Andy Farrell said.

The Lions beat Queensland 22-12 in the corresponding tour game in 2013 before going on to win the test series 2-1 against Australia.

Queensland coach Les Kiss, an assistant coach at Ireland from 2008-15, unveiled a squad containing nine players with Wallabies experience and two former New Zealand All Blacks props to take on the Lions.

Fullback Jock Campbell will lead the Reds, anchoring a backline that will feature Hunter Paisami and Josh Flook in midfield.

Hooker Matt Faessler returns to pack in between Aidan Ross, who recently signed from the Hamilton-based Chiefs, and Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen. Both props played against the Lions for their Super Rugby teams in New Zealand in 2017. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, a 41-test lock, and flanker Seru Uru give additional strength to the Queensland forwards.

“It’s a one-off match but we’ve had a line of sight with their games against Argentina and the Western Force," Kiss said.

Squads:

British and Irish Lions: Hugo Keenan (Ireland), Tommy Freeman (England), Huw Jones (Scotland), Bundee Aki (Ireland), Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland), Finn Russell (Scotland), Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland); Jack Conan (Ireland), Jac Morgan (Wales), Tom Curry (England), Ollie Chessum (England), Maro Itoje England, captain), Will Stuart (England), Ronan Kelleher (Ireland), Andrew Porter (Ireland). Reserves: Luke Cowan-Dickie (England), Ellis Genge (England), Finlay Bealham (Ireland), James Ryan (Ireland), Ben Earl (England), Alex Mitchell (England), Fin Smith (England), Garry Ringrose (Ireland).

Queensland Reds: Jock Campbell (captain), Lachie Anderson, Josh Flook, Hunter Paisami, Tim Ryan, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, Kalani Thomas; Joe Brial, John Bryant, Seru Uru, Lakhan Salakaia-Loto, Josh Canham, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Matt Faessler, Aidan Ross. Reserves: Josh Nasser, George Blake, Sef Fa'agase, Ryan Smith, Angus Blyth, Connor Vest, Louis Werchon, Isaac Henry.

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

Tomos Williams of the British & Irish Lions is assisted from the field during their rugby match against the Western Force in Perth, Australia, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens)

Tadhg Beirne of the British & Irish Lions gestures to teammate Tomos Williams, left, after he's scored a try during their rugby match against the Western Force in Perth, Australia, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens)

Tomos Williams of the British & Irish Lions is airborne as he scores a try as Western Forces' Mac Grealy watches during their rugby match against the Western Force in Perth, Australia, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens)

Tomos Williams of the British & Irish Lions is attended to by a trainer as he grabs at his hamstring after scoring a try during their rugby match against the Western Force in Perth, Australia, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens)

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Shreyas Iyer was provisionally named in India’s squad on Saturday for the home one-day international series against New Zealand starting Jan. 11.

India will host the Black Caps in a white-ball engagement — three ODIs and five T20s — in the build-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Iyer returns to the international fold after sustaining a spleen injury during an ODI against Australia in Sydney last October.

His selection is subject to fitness clearance from BCCI’s medical team and he will return as India’s vice-captain for the three-match series.

Skipper Shubman Gill also returns, after he missed the ODI series against South Africa in December. He had a neck spasm in the test series earlier, and subsequently played in the T20s against the Proteas.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Verma missed out. Gaikwad had scored a maiden ODI hundred against South Africa in Visakhapatnam.

Rishabh Pant is retained as second keeper-batter behind Lokesh Rahul, who had stood in as captain against the Proteas.

Star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had both participated in the domestic List A tournament — Vijay Hazare Trophy — and return to the international stage for the ODIs.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya is fit, but not sufficiently enough to bowl 10 overs in an ODI. Thus, he has been rested further ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup (in India and Sri Lanka) starting Feb. 7. Nitish Kumar Reddy is included in the squad.

Pacer Mohammed Siraj returns to lead the bowling lineup with Jasprit Bumrah rested again. Siraj had missed the South Africa series because of workload management.

The three ODIs will be played in Vadodara (Jan. 11), Rajkot (Jan. 14) and Indore (Jan. 18), with the five-match T20 series starting Jan. 21.

Squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

FILE - Captain of Punjab Kings Shreyas Iyer addresses a news conference on the eve of the final match of Indian Premier League at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)