British and Irish Lions squad: Beirne and Henshaw among eight Irish players selected for tour to South Africa

Tadhg Beirne and Robbie Henshaw are among eight Irish players have been included on the British and Irish Lions squad to tour South Africa this summer.

A total of eight Ireland players have been selected in Warren Gatland's 37-strong squad, with Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw joining Murray among the backs selected. Five forwards are chosen with Beirne joined by the Leinster trio of Jack Conan, Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Porter and Ulster's Iain Henderson.

The British and Irish Lions squad will be captained by Alun Wyn Jones, of Wales. The 35-year-old is a veteran of three previous Lions tours.

Thirty two-year-old Limerick scrum-half Murray has been selected to tour with the Lions for a third time.

Murray has won 89 caps for Ireland and made 148 appearances to date for Munster and was first honoured with selection in the British and Irish Lions squad on their victorious 2013 tour to Australia. The Limerick man featured in seven of the touring games including two Test matches against the Wallabies.

Four years ago Murray was selected for his second British and Irish Lions tour, starting all three Tests as the tourists drew the Series against the All Blacks. In scoring a try in the second Test, Murray became the first international player in history to score four tries against the All Blacks - three for Ireland and one for the Lions.

Twenty nine-year-old Tadhg Beirne has been selected on his first British and Irish Lions tour. The versatile Beirne made his Guinness Pro14 debut for Munster away to Glasgow in September 2018 and has gone on to make 22 caps for Ireland to date as well as playing 36 times for Munster.

The Lions will face Japan in a warm-up game at BY Murrayfield on June 26.

Their opening fixture in South Africa will be against the Stormers at Cape Town on July.

The first of three tests against World champions South Africa will take place in FNB National Stadium,  Johannesburg on July 24.

British and Irish Lions squad in full:

Backs (16):

Josh Adams (Cardiff, Wales) Wing

Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby, Ireland) Centre

Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) Fly-half

Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) Centre

Gareth Davies (Scarlets, Wales) Scrum-half

Owen Farrell (Saracens, England) Fly-half

Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, Scotland) Centre

Robbie Henshaw (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) Centre

Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland) Full-back

Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland) Scrum-half

Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) Scrum-half

Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester Rugby, Wales) Wing

Finn Russell (Racing 92, Scotland) Fly-half

Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) Wing

Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) Wing

Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales) Full-back

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

Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) Prop

Jamie George (Saracens, England) Hooker

Iain Henderson (Ulster Rugby, Ireland) Second row

Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, England) Second row

Maro Itoje (Saracens, England) Second row

Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, Wales) (Captain) Second row

Wyn Jones (Scarlets, Wales) Prop

Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, England) Second row

Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales) Hooker

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

Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England) Prop

Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) Back row