Several Scotland players are facing an anxious wait before they discover if they have been selected for a place in the British and Irish Lions squad that will tour Australia this summer. However, there is one member of the Scottish ranks that has already been handed a major role within the Lions setup ahead of their trip down under. On-field preparations for the three-test series will get underway in June when the Lions face Argentina in Dublin before a quintet of warm-up matches take place in Australia with Western Force, Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs, ACT Brumbies and an Invitational AU side providing the opposition. The first test with the Wallabies will come on Saturday, July 19 with the second and third tests taking place on the following two weekends. It is just under a month until head coach Andy Farrell names his squad for the tour - but the former England international has already named a Scot in his backroom staff after forwards coach John Dalziel was named alongside English coach Richard Wigglesworth and Irish trio Andrew Goodman, Simon Easterby and John Fogarty as Farrell’s assistants. For Dalziel, the appointment means he will follow in the footsteps of Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend, who toured South Africa as a Lions player in 1997 and was part of the Lions backroom staff for their last tour of South Africa in in 2021. Dalziel admitted he would be looking to Townsend for advice and admitted he has ‘big shoes to fill’ as he follows in the footsteps of a number of Scotland coaches that have toured with the Lions in the past. He told the Lions Rugby website: “Gregor and I originate from the very same small Border town called Galashiels, we went to the same high school. I grew up with Gregor a few years above and he was the star boy at the high school and went on to everything he achieved. That 1997 Lions Tour, to see somebody that you grew up with, I was so proud of him and the way he went about his career. I’ve had the pleasure of working with him and playing with him and we’re back working together again. He’s someone I am going to lean on massively, I’ll pick his brains to find out more. He was on the last tour as well so he knows the lay of the land. “I played under Jim Telfer at Melrose. Although I was born in Gala, I moved to Melrose before professional rugby, I played under him and during the professional days. He was coaching Under-18s when I was coaching Melrose alongside him, so he’s a great man. He’s been a massive inspiration to me growing up. Those Lions meetings and the inspiration he gave there, as the game has got more modern and more the analytical side, but that for me resonates a huge part of what the Lions are about, the connection that he brought. You pinch yourself now from watching that, there are big shoes to fill!” Your next Scotland rugby read: British and Irish Lions to receive Gregor Townsend backing as Scotland boss to be leaned on by coach 'heavily