Laidlaw called up to British & Irish Lions squad

Scotland scrum-half Greig Laidlaw has been added to the British & Irish Lions squad for the forthcoming tour to New Zealand, joining Stuart Hogg and Tommy Syemour as the third Scot on the tour.Laidlaw replaces Ben Young who has pulled out of the tour for family reasons. He will join hisfellow Lions in camp today (Monday 8 May).Greig – who follows in the footsteps of uncle Roy Laidlaw (a former Scotland and Lions cap) – has made the most appearances as Scotland captain, equalling David Sole’s record (25) on the same day he marked a half century of appearances for his country – a feat he surpassed in the last game of the 2016 RBS 6 Nations championship.Laidlaw is also third on Scotland’s all-time points list, overtaking Dan Parks’ haul of 266 and Andy Irvine’s 273 with a 14-point contribution to Scotland’s 41-31 win against Argentina in the opening viagogo Autumn Test of 2014.It was in the year leading up the competition – starting 12 of Scotland’s 14 Tests, coupled with his impreious performances throughout the Rugby World Cup 2015 – that Laidlaw also earned recognition with nomination for World Rugby’s Player of the Year award.Leading by example, he bowed out of the RWC in the quarter-finals as the leading point-scorer with 79, 26 of them – including a crucial late try – coming in the 36-33 win over Samoa that booked his side’s place in the last eight.Laidlaw’s metronomic kicking continued the following year, in the 2016 RBS 6 Nations, and saw him finish as second-top point’s scorer; his man-of-the-match winning contribution of 19 helping him on the way to a championship total of 62, that saw him pass the 500 point mark in the last game against Ireland.