Sam Warburton has been appointed as captain of the British and Irish Lions and will be joined by 14 other Welshman for the tour of Australia starting in June.

There was no place in the 37-man squad for former England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson, who has been in superb form for Toulon, or England captain Chris Robshaw.

However, former England prop Matt Stevens will come out of retirement as one of six props.

The Lions tour begins on June 1 with a match against the Barbarians in Hong Kong.

The first of three Tests over consecutive weekends is played in Brisbane on June 22.

The tourists haven’t won a series since beating South Africa in 1997.