Sam Warburton named British and Irish Lions captain, Dylan Hartley misses out

Sam Warburton of Wales looks on during the RBS Six Nations match between Scotland and Wales at Murrayfield Stadium on February 15, 2015
© Getty Images
Sam Warburton is named as the British and Irish Lions captain for the tour of New Zealand, but England skipper Dylan Hartley is not selected by Warren Gatland.

Sam Warburton has been named as the British and Irish Lions captain for the tour of New Zealand.

In February, Warburton stepped down from his position as skipper of Wales, but that has not stopped Lions coach Warren Gatland handing him the armband for the second successive tour for their fixtures in June and July.

The most notable absentee from the 41-man group is England captain Dylan Hartley, who misses out despite 16 players being selected from Eddie Jones's squad.

Joe Launchbury, George Ford, James Haskell and Chris Robshaw are also regarded as significant exclusions by Gatland, with Wales's Ross Moriarty perhaps seen as a surprise pick by the coach.

The Lions will play 10 matches on the tour, with fixtures scheduled from June 3 to July 8, which is the date for the third and final Test with the All Blacks.

The squad in full:

Forwards: Rory Best (Ireland), Dan Cole (England), Taulupe Faletau (Wales), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Jamie George (England), Iain Henderson (Ireland), Maro Itoje (England), Alun Wyn Jones (Wales), George Kruis (England), Courtney Lawes (England), Joe Marler (England), Jack McGrath (Ireland), Ross Moriarty (Wales), Sean O'Brien (Ireland), Peter O'Mahony (Ireland), Ken Owens (Wales), Kyle Sinckler (England), CJ Stander (Ireland), Justin Tipuric (Wales), Billy Vunipola (England), Mako Vunipola (England), Sam Warburton (Wales)

Backs: Dan Biggar (Wales), Elliot Daly (England), Jonathan Davies (Wales), Owen Farrell (England), Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Jonathan Joseph (England), Conor Murray (Ireland), George North (Wales), Jack Nowell (England), Jared Payne (Ireland), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), Tommy Seymour (Scotland), Ben Te'o (England), Anthony Watson (England), Rhys Webb (Wales), Liam Williams (Wales), Ben Youngs (England)

Lions head coach Warren Gatland smiles after their victory during the International Test match between the Australian Wallabies and British & Irish Lions at ANZ Stadium on July 6, 2013
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