Laidlaw's six Scottish Lions picks

Will Glasgow Warriors centres Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu tour with the Lions?

Eight Scotland players were selected for the last British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa in 2021 and, speaking to BBC Scotland, former Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw has identified six Scots he expects to make the squad this time around.

Finn Russell (fly-half): "Andy Farrell's obviously been successful, he knows what he wants within that squad and he's going to pick the players that he feels is right. When I look at the way Ireland play and the real positivity around that ball movement, I can't see why Finn can't fit into that system and thrive within that as well."

Sione Tuipulotu (centre): "He's just got himself back in the nick of time from injury. I think he's been in such great form and it's probably like for like, him and Bundee Aki, two similar players."

Huw Jones (centre): "He's been excellent form, hasn't he? I think they should take him because he's been very solid both defensively and offensively in recent times for Scotland."

Duhan van der Merwe (wing): "Duhan went on the last tour and he showed up pretty well. He's excellent going forward. Whether he'll start in Farrell's team, I'm not too sure. He likes fairly smart operators in defence and that may be the one thing that might cost him a Test spot, but he's certainly very dangerous going forward."

Blair Kinghorn (full-back): "Blair has been excellent. I think there's some injury worries potentially around him. Hopefully, it's nothing too serious for his sake. He's been excellent for both Scotland and Toulouse and it's awesome to see a Scottish guy going on to play for one of the best clubs in Europe. Injury being well, I'm pretty certain he'll be there."

Zander Fagerson (prop): "I think Zander's been great. There is a lot of competition in that tighthead slot coming through as well, but I think he's still done enough. He showed up pretty well in the last tour in 2021 as well, so I think he'll have a little bit of money in the bank there."

Laidlaw believes scrum-half Ben White has a "50-50" chance of travelling - "I would take him" – and thinks his familiarity with Russell could tip the scales in his favour.

However, despite the strong cases put forward for selection by Jamie Ritchie and Rory Darge, Laidlaw expects the fierce competition for back-row places will probably mean the Scotland flankers miss out.