Quade Cooper's cousin Sean Maitland named in British and Irish Lions Scotland's Sean Maitland played for Waikato and Canterbury, and has been picked in the Lions squad. QUADE Cooper is buzzing from his first selection break for the British and Irish Lions tour with the inclusion of kilted Kiwi cousin Sean Maitland. Maitland, 24, won a lineball call this week to be one of four wingers included for this adventure of a rugby lifetime with the Lions squad in June-July. The pair grew up together and played for the same Pirates junior team from the age of six in the New Zealand town of Tokoroa. Cooper's rugby direction changed with a move to Australia as a teenager while Maitland's world has been transformed since leaving NZ last year to follow his family's Scottish heritage. "Everyone in our family is very proud of Sean's hard work and the bravery it took to leave a quality set-up like the Crusaders to chase a bigger dream," Cooper said. Personally, it's very exciting to see my cousin's name in the squad. Adding names to a team does up the excitement for the Lions. I was sitting around at home watching the TV and seeing his name come up on Twitter. To see how excited we were, I can only imagine how my lil cuz is feeling. One-on-one in the backyard after school, playing for Pirates and South Waikato rep teams together ... we grew up playing footy. Maitland's 23-try pedigree with the Crusaders is as much a factor in him winning Lions selection as the positive impact he has made in his five Tests for Scotland. Maitland and flyhalf Cooper duelled in the 2011 Super Rugby final when the Reds and Crusaders collided at Suncorp Stadium. That they could now celebrate playing a Test against each other during the blockbuster Lions series is a tantalising prospect. The wiser Cooper of 2013 is not jumping to any premature conclusions. Would he love to play against Maitland? If I do, I do. If I don't, I don't," Cooper said. It was cool playing against Sean when he was at the Crusaders and right now I'm more excited about his selection for the Lions. For me, all I want to think about is continuing to play well here for the Reds and let footy do the talking. The Lions tour opens against a Barbarians line-up in Hong Kong on June 1 so there is the unnerving possibility of a selected player being injured and not even setting foot on Australian soil for the main event. That is why the 37-strong depth of the Lions squad is such an asset for this taxing 10-match tour. If a quality player falls over, another steps in. It is the case on the wing where powerful Welsh duo George North and Alex Cuthbert may be the frontrunners for the Test spots but class lurks in the classical finishing moves of Maitland and Ireland's Tommy Bowe. Tickets remain available for the Reds-Lions clash at Suncorp Stadium on June 8.