Who are rugby's British and Irish Lions?

The British and Irish Lions will face Australia in Brisbane in the first match of a three-Test series which kicks off today.

The Lions are made up of rugby union stars from England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

They'll be looking to come out on top this series, but fans will have to wait and see whether Maro Itoje can lead his team to victory.

Want to know more about about the Lions?

Read on to find out more.

Who are the Lions?

The Lions are a team made up of rugby union stars from England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

Players do not have to have already played for their national side, they just have to be available for selection by one of those four teams.

They're put together every four years to face one of the world's best rugby teams - rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Each tour, the Lions play a selection of warm-up games before three Tests against the host country.

Most recently, the Lions lost their Test series against South Africa in 2021, by two matches to one.

The Lions last played in Australia in 2013.

Who was called up to this year's squad?

Maro Itoje will captain the Lions this summer

British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell selected 38 players for their tour of Australia.

England and Saracens captain Maro Itoje, a Test regular in the 2017 and 2021 series, is leading the squad for the first time.

In the original squad, Ireland were represented with 16 players, England supplied 13, Scotland seven and Wales had two players in the team.

Here's the full original squad list for this summer's tour:

Captain: Maro Itoje (Eng)

Props: Finlay Bealham (Ire), Tadhg Furlong (Ire), Ellis Genge (Eng), Andrew Porter (Ire), Pierre Schoeman (Sco), Will Stuart (Eng)

Hookers: Luke Cowan-Dickie (Eng), Ronan Kelleher (Ire), Dan Sheehan (Ire)

Second rows: Tadhg Beirne (Ire), Ollie Chessum (Eng), Scott Cummings (Sco), Maro Itoje (Eng), Joe McCarthy (Ire), James Ryan (Ire)

Back rows: Jack Conan (Ire), Tom Curry (Eng), Ben Earl (Eng), Jac Morgan (Wal), Henry Pollock (Eng), Josh van der Flier (Ire)

Scrum-halves: Jamison Gibson-Park (Ire), Alex Mitchell (Eng), Tomos Williams (Wal)

Fly-halves: Finn Russell (Sco), Fin Smith (Eng), Marcus Smith (Eng)

Centres: Bundee Aki (Ire), Huw Jones (Sco), Garry Ringrose (Ire), Sione Tuipulotu (Sco)

Wings: Elliot Daly (Eng), Tommy Freeman (Eng), Mack Hansen (Ire), James Lowe (Ire), Duhan van der Merwe (Sco)

Full-backs: Hugo Keenan (Ire), Blair Kinghorn (Sco)

Tomos Williams and Elliot Daly are both out with injuries

Since the announcement, there have been some changes. Welsh player Tomos Williams and Elliot Daly who plays for England are now both out with injuries.

New players have also been called up to join the wider squad. Including:

Ben White (Sco), Rory Sutherland (Sco), Ewan Ashman (Sco), Darcy Graham (Sco), Owen Farrell (Eng), Jamie George (Eng, Jamie Osborne (Ire), Tom Clarkson (Ire)

Where is the 2025 Lions Tour taking place?

The Australian city of Brisbane will host the first Test match

The Lions will play three Tests in Australia on the following days:

Saturday 19 July - Lions v Australia, first Test, Brisbane

Saturday 26 July - Lions v Australia, second Test, Melbourne

Saturday 2 August - Lions v Australia, third Test, Sydney