TADHG FURLONG will bid to prove his fitness for the Lions Tour against Argentina on Friday. The prop has not played since Leinster’s Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton because of a calf injury. But he is fit enough to be named on the bench for Andy Farrell’s first game in charge of the Lions at the Aviva Stadium this weekend. He is joined in the replacements by Rónan Kelleher, the only other Leinster player involved because they were involved in the URC final win over Bulls at the weekend, in which the hooker came off the bench. There are still three Irish players in the starting XV with 2021 tourists Bundee Aki of Connacht and Munster’s Tadhg Beirne included, along with Finlay Bealham who was added to the squad after Scotland’s Zander Ferguson was ruled out through injury. Aki and Bealham’s provincial teammate Mack Hansen is also included among the replacements. Farrell has not included any Bath representatives with the side involved in the Premiership final against Leicester Tigers on Saturday. Lions captain Maro Itoje will skipper the side for the first time and Farrell said: “It is a truly special moment and one that very few players ever get to experience. “Maro has led the group well during our time in Portugal and then Dublin this week. This is also our first opportunity to show what the 2025 Lions are about and what we want to stand for as a team. “We know that Argentina will challenge us up front and out wide - so Friday night will be a tough contest, but also a great occasion for all the fans.” After their first outing on Irish soil, the Lions will travel to Australia ahead of the three-Test series against the Wallabies. Lions: M Smith (England), Freeman (England), Tuipulotu (Scotland), Aki (Ireland), van der Merwe (Scotland), F Smith (England), Mitchell (England), Genge (England), Cowan-Dickie (England), Bealham (Ireland), Itoje (England), Beirne (Ireland), Curry (England), Morgan (Wales), Earl (England). Replacements: Kelleher (Ireland), Schoeman (Scotland), Furlong (Ireland), Cummings (Scotland), Pollock (England), Williams (Wales), Daly (England), Hansen (Ireland).