From the elation of Thursday’s Squad Announcement, it was straight back to business for those lucky few who were named as part of The British & Irish Lions squad for the Tour to Australia this summer.

After Andy Farrell’s selections had been revealed at the O2, the vast majority of those picked were back in domestic action this weekend between the United Rugby Championship and the Premiership.

And in most cases, they celebrated their Lions call-ups in style, hoping to stake an early claim for Test selection.

Leinster contingent hit the ground running

History was made on Thursday when 12 Leinster players were included in the squad, the most from a single club in the history of the Lions.

Nine of those players were on the park for Saturday’s clash with Zebre as Leinster responded to last week’s Champions Cup defeat to Northampton Saints by racking up 12 tries in a 76-5 success.

Lions trio Ronan Kelleher, James Lowe and Josh van der Flier were all among the try-scorers, but perhaps the most notable takeaway was James Ryan’s return off the bench.

The second row is set for his first Lions Tour this summer, and replaced fellow Lion Joe McCarthy for the last half hour.

That was his first action since the end of the Six Nations and he will be hoping to build on that start ahead of the summer.

Lions face off

Friday night saw Leicester Tigers host Sale Sharks in a big game in the race for Premiership play-off position, with Leicester coming from behind to take the win.

Luke Cowan-Dickie, who will head to Australia for his second Lions Tour, had given Sale a good start with an early try, even though they lost Tom Curry to a hamstring strain.

However, Ollie Chessum played the full 80 minutes for the home side as they were able to turn the game around and take five points.

On Saturday at Twickenham, Harlequins got the better of Gloucester for their Big Summer Kick-off, with Marcus Smith pulling the strings in a 38-19 win despite the best efforts of fellow Lions half-back Tomos Williams.

Then, rounding out the Lion on Lion affairs, Connacht hosted Edinburgh as the Scottish side picked up an important win on the road in their race for a URC play-off spot.

Pierre Schoeman scored a try in the 31-21 success, with Bundee Aki unable to stop Connacht losing despite playing the full 80 minutes.

Comebacks and tries

Glasgow Warriors were well beaten away to Benetton, but a couple of Lions got some much needed game time in Treviso.

In his first start since January, Scott Cummings started at blindside flanker, a handy string to his bow ahead of the Lions Tour.

And Huw Jones also marked his return from injury with a try, the Warriors’ lone score in their 33-7 defeat.

Tadhg Beirne was another to get a try, scoring in Munster’s win over Ulster that also marked a final game at Thomond Park for two Lions greats, Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony, the latter scoring a try in the 38-20 win.

On Saturday, Lions skipper Maro Itoje got in on the act as Saracens cut loose, scoring one try in the 75-28 win over Newcastle, while first time tourist Ben Earl crossed twice in the win.