Mark Beels joins British & Irish Lions management team

Kit man ‘Beelsy’ joined Scottish Rugby in 2019 from Saracens having also worked with Tottenham Hotspur and has become an instrumental member of the Scotland management team.

Having worked at the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups and six Men’s Guinness Six Nations tournaments, Beels has been called up to the Lions where he will join assistant coach John Dalziel in the management team along with Scottish Rugby Performance Director David Nucifora who has been appointed as General Manager, Performance.

On the appointment, Beels said: “It is a huge honour and privilege to be chosen to be part of something as iconic as the British & Irish Lions. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can learn from this management and playing group.

“The meetings we’ve had so far with the rest of the management team have been excellent and I’m really excited for the summer ahead.

“I love working with the Scotland team. I think we have a really good group and there’s a brilliant rapport between the players and the management. It’ll be tough not being out with the Scotland guys in Fiji and New Zealand on their tour but the opportunity with the Lions only comes along once in a lifetime so I had to grab it.

“It was amazing news for John Dalziel as well. I know how he works and what a talented coach he is. All of the players at Scotland love working with him and I’m sure that’ll be the same with the Lions. I’m delighted for all the players selected too as they are all brilliant to work with.”