Lions tour schedule

At 36, Back is the oldest player in Lions history and earned a place on his third Lions tour despite having retired from international rugby.

"It's the highest accolade a northern hemisphere player can achieve. It's a massive honour," he said.

"It was hard to hold back my emotion, as it was in 1997 for my first tour."

His Leicester team-mate Geordan Murphy fully supported Sir Clive Woodward's decision to include the veteran forward in the squad.

"Fair play to him, that he put himself into a position to be selected. I'm really happy for him," said Murphy, who will be making his first Lions trip.

"He has been playing very well for us recently at Leicester. He has said all along that he wanted to go on tour to New Zealand.

Murphy has been picked for his first Lions tour

"To be the oldest Lions tourist at 36 is some going."

Murphy admitted he was thrilled by the prospect of his first Lions tour.

"As a child I'd read about it and seen it on television, but I guess only once you've toured with the Lions will you really know what it's like.

"I'm looking forward to playing with the best players in the British Isles and for us to become one happy family."

Back, who was a key member of Woodward's England team that won the 2003 World Cup, is one of a club record eight Leicester players selected for the tour.

Forward Graham Rowntree admitted he was stunned by the news of his own inclusion in the squad.

"At the start of the season all I was worried about was regaining my fitness and place in the Tigers squad," he said..

I made a promise to my dad about this tour when he was on his death bed and he is in my thoughts Ben Kay

"I've been lucky enough to have a great season and be part of something special at the club, but there's still some silverware to be won before I can start worrying about a Lions tour."

Lock Ben Kay said the wait for confirmation of his place in the squad had been a painful one, but the news was worth the wait for personal reasons.

"I didn't get a text like we were meant to, so I had to watch the announcement - it was the most nerve-wracking hour of my life," he said.

"I made a promise to my dad about this tour when he was on his death bed and he is in my thoughts.

"This is bigger than the World Cup and something I'm delighted to be involved in."

Flanker Lewis Moody said he would be thrilled by the prospect of meeting up with his fellow Lions.

"It really is exciting, but I'm sure I'll be even more excited when we meet up as a squad before tour," he said.

"It's difficult to compare to the World Cup, but what makes the Lions so special is all the new friendships and partnerships that we'll be forging over the next few months."

Full Lions touring squad

Centre Ollie Smith admitted selection was a shock as he thought he had been overlooked.

"I didn't expect it, having not received the text by 12pm, as we were supposed to so I thought I'd listen to the radio to see who had been selected," he said.

"I heard Tom Shanklin's name, then they read out 'Ollie Smith' - at first I didn't realise it was me!".

Hill has just returned from a long injury lay-off

Martin Corry and Julian White were the other Leicester players picked.

The Tigers' next game is against Saracens on Saturday, where some of the players will come up against fellow Lion Richard Hill.

Confirmation of a place on his third Lions tour capped a wonderful few days for Hill, coming just days after his try-scoring return to action for Saracens after six months out injured.

"It's been a good seven days for me," he said.

"I played my first 40 minutes of rugby a week ago in the A League game at Gloucester, then made an appearance for Saracens on Sunday in the Premiership and now this.

"It's always a great honour to be selected for the Lions but I appreciate that there is still a lot of hard work ahead of me."