Naas' Jamie Osborne drafted into Lions squad a week away from first Test

Jamie Osborne of Ireland is tackled by Beka Saghinadze of Georgia during the test match last week at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi, Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

placeholder image — Jamie Osborne of Ireland is tackled by Beka Saghinadze of Georgia during the test match last week at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi, Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The Kildare man left the Ireland camp to join the British and Irish Lions squad as back-up to Blair Kinghorn while the Scotsman nurses an injury ahead of their first Test with Australia

Naas man Jamie Osborne has departed the Ireland camp to join the British and Irish Lions squad as back-up to Blair Kinghorn while the Scotsman nurses a knee injury. Osborne joins fellow Kildare man Tadhg Beirne in the 2025 squad for their tour of Australia.

Osborne will provide training cover for the Scotland and Toulouse full-back. Ireland and Lions head coach Andy Farrell gave Osborne the first of his eight Test caps at full-back against South Africa last summer, but the 23-year-old is typically deployed in midfield.

The Lions play their final pre-series tour game against an Australia/New Zealand invitational side on Saturday, July 12 before taking on the Wallabies in the first Test on July 19.