Warren Gatland includes Sam Simmonds in British and Irish Lions squad for tour of South Africa and names Alun Wyn Jones as captain, Billy Vunipola, Johnny Sexton and Manu Tuilagi miss out

Warren Gatland has included Sam Simmonds in his 37-man British and Irish Lions squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa, which will be captained by Wales' Alun Wyn Jones.

Bundee Aki and Chris Harris are also included while there are a number of notable omissions, with Johnny Sexton, Jonathan Davies, Billy Vunipola, James Ryan, Kyle Sinckler and Manu Tuilagi among those to miss out.

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Gatland held his final selection meeting at the Lensbury club in south-west London on Wednesday, with Simmonds making the cut in spite of his lack of international experience.

The Exeter back row made the last of his seven England caps back in March 2018, yet has been in sensational form for Rob Baxter’s side.

Simmonds helped Exeter win the Champions Cup and Premiership double last season, is top scorer in the league and the reigning European Player of the Year.

His club form hasn't convinced Eddie Jones and he has been unable to dislodge Billy Vunipola, but now gets the call for the Lions over the England number eight.

If his inclusion is something of a shock for Lions fans, returning to Jones as captain will be no surprise as the most capped rugby player in the world with 148 appearances for his country.

The 35-year-old will be going on his fourth Lions tour and has featured in the last nine Lions Test matches, including captaining the team to victory in the decisive third Test against Australia in Sydney in 2013.

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Elsewhere, Tuilagi misses out on the squad altogether after an injury-ravaged season for Sale Sharks, while there is no place either for England teammates Henry Slade, Jonny May and Sam Underhill.

Sexton is also overlooked along with Ireland teammate Ryan, with fellow countryman Aki a surprise inclusion among the centres alongside Scotland's Harris.

Louis Rees-Zammit is rewarded with a call-up after his excellent season with both Gloucester and Wales, being joined by fellow Lions debutant and compatriot Josh Adams after finishing as the top try scorer at the 2019 World Cup.

Six Nations Player of the Tournament Hamish Watson makes it into the squad after his strong performances for Scotland.

Exeter stars Jonny Hill and Luke Cowan-Dickie will also join the squad, with the first official game of the tour set to take place against DHL Stormers in Cape Town on July 3.

Head coach Warren Gatland said: "To those players that have been selected, congratulations. I know it's going to be challenging for a number of aspects. I just hope firstly that they thoroughly enjoy the tour and represent their four home nations the best they possibly can."

On naming 37 players rather than the expected 36, Gatland said: "Particularly looking at our loose forwards, and the attrition, getting an extra number there is a bit of a back-up. We wanted to keep the numbers down but a 37-man squad was something we looked at yesterday."

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Gatland knows taking on the world champions will be a huge challenge.

"It's not going to be easy," he said.

"It's probably using the experience from the last tour. Back in 2009 we played pretty well in the lead-up but the physicality they brought to the first Test was something we weren't quite ready for.

"We came away thinking we'd done a pretty good job, restored some respect back into the jersey. But we were disappointed, we felt we could have drawn or even won.

"We're going back to South Africa with the ultimate goal of continuing what we've built on and building the Lions brand. It's unique, it's incredibly special."

FULL LIONS SQUAD FOR SOUTH AFRICA

Warren Gatland has named his 37-man squad for the summer trip to South Africa

Backs (16):
Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby, Wales) – Wing
Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby, Ireland) – Centre  
Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) – Fly-half #821
Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) – Centre #822
Gareth Davies (Scarlets, Wales) – Scrum-half  
Owen Farrell (Saracens, England) – Fly-half #780
Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, Scotland) – Centre  
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) – Centre #824  
Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland) – Full-back #783
Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland) – Scrum-half #790
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) – Scrum-half
Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester Rugby, Wales) – Wing
Finn Russell (Racing 92, Scotland) – Fly-half #835
Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) – Wing
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) – Wing #816
Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales) – Full-back #833
 
Forwards (21):
Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland) – Second row
Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) – Back row
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England) – Hooker  
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England) – Back row  
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) – Prop  
Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby, Wales) – Back row #779
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) – Prop #818  
Jamie George (Saracens, England) – Hooker #819
Iain Henderson (Ulster Rugby, Ireland) – Second row #808
Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, England) – Second row
Maro Itoje (Saracens, England) – Second row #825
Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, Wales) (Captain) – Second row #761
Wyn Jones (Scarlets, Wales) – Prop
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, England) – Second row #826
Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales) – Hooker #829
Andrew Porter (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) – Prop  
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, England) – Back row
Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) – Prop
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys, Wales) – Back row #786
Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England) – Prop #787
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) – Back row

talkSPORT is set to deliver over 150 hours of exclusive Lions coverage across the talkSPORT network for the upcoming Lions Tour of South Africa. Alongside commentary of every Lions match including the three Test series, talkSPORT will deliver previews, post-match analysis, phone-ins and bring all the colour from South Africa to supporters in the UK.