Scotland prop Zander Fagerson has been withdrawn from the British and Irish Lions squad for this summer’s tour of Australia after failing to recover from injury. Fagerson was included in head coach Andy Farrell’s original squad despite being sidelined by a calf issue picked up in training. The 29-year-old has not featured for his club side Glasgow Warriors since the Champions Cup clash with Leicester Tigers on April 5 and unfortunately for the tighthead, he has failed to prove his fitness in time. With the Lions squad due to jet off to Quinto do Lago in Portugal on Tuesday for a six-day training camp, Farrell has decided to call up Ireland and Connacht prop Finlay Bealham as a replacement for Fagerson. England’s Jamie George and Asher Opoku-Fordjour will also travel to train with the squad. “It’s tough on Zander to miss out so close to the tour,” said Farrell, “but now Finlay gets an opportunity to come in and add to the group. This is unfortunately part and parcel of the game, so we always have to be prepared for that. “But it’s great to be finally at the stage where we can get onto the training ground and get to work with these players. Portugal will be really important for us as we look to get our house in order with only a few training sessions before we take on Argentina in the 1888 Cup in Dublin.” A post from Scottish Rugby on X added: “Zander Fagerson has been ruled out of this summer's British & Irish Lions tour of Australia after sustaining a calf injury. We wish Zander all the best in his recovery.” The Lions’ first match is at the Aviva Stadium a week on Friday against Argentina, before they jet out to Australia to begin their tour against Western Force in Perth on Saturday, June 28. Fagerson’s omission will be a huge blow to the prop, who has become one of the best in the world in his specialism. He was part of the Lions’ tour to South Africa in 2021 but failed to make a Test appearance. He will continue his recovery back at Scotstoun ahead of the 2025/26 campaign. Speaking about how he got injured, Fagerson said in May: “It was the last scrum of the session and I felt as if one of the flankers had punched me in the calf and I thought, that's a bit weird. So after the scrum, I turned around and said to the flanker, ‘what are you playing at?’ He said, ‘I didn't do anything’. I thought, ‘oh no’. “I tried to get up and that's when I realised I'd done it. I was absolutely gutted. First and foremost, I couldn't contribute to the club and help in this finals run, but then, of course, the intrusive thoughts kick in.” Farrell will now have to pick between Bealham, Tadhg Furlong and Will Stuart as his tightheads for the matches down under. Despite Fagerson’s absence, there will be a strong Scottish contingent in the Lions’ training camp in Portugal. Prop Pierre Schoeman, second row Scott Cummings, centres Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu plus winger Duhan van der Merwe will travel, while Bath stand-off Finn Russell and Toulouse full-back Blair Kinghorn will join the squad once their domestic seasons conclude. The inclusion of Jones and Van der Merwe is notable given that both missed out on Edinburgh and Glasgow’s URC play-off matches due to achilles and ankle issues respectively. Forwards: Finlay Bealham (Connacht Rugby/Ireland), Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby/Ireland) #838, Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks/England) #851, Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/ Scotland), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England) #853, Ben Earl (Saracens/England), Jamie George (Saracens/England) #819, Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England), Maro Itoje (Saracens/England) #825 (C), Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks/England), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints/England), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland). Backs: Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby/Ireland) #837, Elliot Daly (Saracens/England) #822, Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England), Mack Hansen (Connacht Rugby/Ireland), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints/England), Marcus Smith (Harlequins/ England) #855, Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland) #841, Tomos Williams (Gloucester Rugby/Wales). Sign up to The Scotsman’s rugby newsletter to get unrivalled comment and analysis - subscribe for free here.