Here they are: The SA-bound B&I Lions

Veteran Welsh lock Alun Wyn Jones will captain the British and Irish Lions team to South Africa in July this year.

Jones will bring his Lions journey full circle when he returns to South Africa 12 years after first facing the Springboks, this time as captain.

A leader in every sense of the word, Warren Gatland has called upon the man who was his trusted lieutenant for Wales for so many years to marshal the tourists to a series victory.

Jones will follow in the illustrious footsteps of fellow locks Willie John McBride in 1974, Martin Johnson in 1997 and Paul O’Connell in 2009 by captaining the Lions in South Africa.

The honour becomes the latest accomplishment to be added to one of the most remarkable CVs in world rugby, cementing Jones’ place as one of the all-time greats of the game.

South Africa will be his fourth Lions Tour in a row while he already has nine consecutive Test appearances to his name, a feat that hammers home his unparalleled longevity.

But it will not be the first time Jones has led the Lions, with the towering lock captaining the tourists in the decisive third Test win in Sydney against the Wallabies in 2013.

And having driven Wales to their sixth Six Nations title since 2005 earlier this year, it’s not hard to see why Gatland called the decision to name Jones as his skipper "relatively easy".

* Lions head coach Warren Gatland also named a 37-man squad.

"We believe we’ve picked a squad capable of winning a Test series in South Africa," said Gatland.

"Selecting a Lions squad is never easy and, in many ways, this has been the most challenging selection I have been involved in. Over the course of the last three weeks, the coaches and I have rigorously debated each position. We saw some outstanding performances in the recent Six Nations, so competition for places has been tough with some incredibly tight calls to make.

"However, we are very happy with the squad we have assembled and look forward to meeting up in Jersey in just over a month’s time to start our preparation to take on the World Champions. We've left out some very talented players which gives an indication to the strength of this squad and we know how important that stand-by list will be.

"Being selected for a Lions Tour is the greatest honour for a British and Irish player and I congratulate everyone named."

British and Irish Lions tour squad is below the video ...

Backs (16):

Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby, Wales) – Wing

Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby, Ireland) – Centre

Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) – Fly-half #821

Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) – Centre #822

Gareth Davies (Scarlets, Wales) – Scrum-half

Owen Farrell (Saracens, England) – Fly-half #780

Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, Scotland) – Centre

Robbie Henshaw (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) – Centre #824

Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland) – Full-back #783

Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland) – Scrum-half #790

Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) – Scrum-half

Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester Rugby, Wales) – Wing

Finn Russell (Racing 92, Scotland) – Fly-half #835

Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) – Wing

Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) – Wing #816

Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales) – Full-back #833

Forwards (21):

Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland) – Second row

Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) – Back row

Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England) – Hooker

Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England) – Back row

Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) – Prop

Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby, Wales) – Back row #779

Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) – Prop #818

Jamie George (Saracens, England) – Hooker #819

Iain Henderson (Ulster Rugby, Ireland) – Second row #808

Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, England) – Second row

Maro Itoje (Saracens, England) – Second row #825

Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, Wales) (Captain) – Second row #761

Wyn Jones (Scarlets, Wales) – Prop

Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, England) – Second row #826

Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales) – Hooker #829

Andrew Porter (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) – Prop

Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, England) – Back row

Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) – Prop

Justin Tipuric (Ospreys, Wales) – Back row #786

Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England) – Prop #787

Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) – Back row