British & Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland has made SIX changes to the starting XV which lost to the Springboks last Saturday in Cape Town.
British & Irish Lions show their hand with team to face Japan
British & Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland has announced his team to play Japan at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Saturday, June 26.
British & Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland has made SIX changes to the starting XV which lost to the Springboks last Saturday in Cape Town.
Four Scotland players have been selected in the British & Irish Lions starting XV for Saturday’s landmark match against Japan in Edinburgh.
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Wing Duhan van der Merwe, flanker Hamish Watson and props Zander Fagerson and Rory Sutherland will all make their debuts for the combined side, who will be skippered by tour captain Alun Wyn Jones.
This match, staged a day before the squad departs for South Africa for a tour that culminates with a three-Test series against the world champion Springboks, will be the first time the Lions have played in Scotland, with this warm-up fixture also their first match against Japan
The back-row selected by Warren Gatland will all be making their Lions debuts, with Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne and Jack Conan joining Watson in the loose forward trio.
But the veteran coach, in charge of the Lions for a third successive tour after a 2013 series win in Australia was followed by a drawn 2017 Test campaign in his native New Zealand, has selected an experienced halfback pairing of Ireland scrumhalf Conor Murray and Wales stand-off Dan Biggar.
Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw form an all-Ireland centre pairing, with no England players in the starting XV.
But four members of the Red Rose brigade are on the bench, with England captain Owen Farrell and Jamie George providing flyhalf and hooker cover respectively despite only arriving into the Lions’ training camp in Jersey on Monday.
Kick-off is at 16:00 SA time.
The British & Irish Lions will play the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday, 3 July in their first of eight matches in Mzansi with the tour concluding with three Tests from Saturday, 24 July onwards.
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BRITISH & IRISH LIONS TEAM TO FACE JAPAN:
15 Liam Williams (WAL), 14 Josh Adams (WAL), 13 Robbie Henshaw (IRL), 12 Bundee Aki (IRL), 11 Duhan van der Merwe (SCO), 10 Dan Biggar (WAL), 9 Conor Murray (IRL), 8 Jack Conan (IRL), 7 Hamish Watson (SCO), 6 Tadhg Beirne (IRL), 5 Alun Wyn Jones (WAL, captain), 4 Iain Henderson (IRL), 3 Zander Fagerson (SCO), 2 Ken Owens (WAL), 1 Rory Sutherland (SCO)
Replacements: 16 Jamie George (ENG), 17 Wyn Jones (WAL), 18 Tadhg Furlong (IRL), 19 Courtney Lawes (ENG), 20 Taulupe Faletau (WAL), 21 Ali Price (SCO), 22 Owen Farrell (ENG), 23 Anthony Watson (ENG)
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SPRINGBOKS V BRITISH & IRISH LIONS SCHEDULE:
Saturday, 3 July: Lions v British & Irish Lions (Ellis Park, Johannesburg) – 18:00
Wednesday, 7 July: Sharks v British & Irish Lions (Ellis Park, Johannesburg) – 20:00
Saturday, 10 July: Bulls v British & Irish Lions (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria) – 18:00
Wednesday, 14 July: South Africa ‘A’ v British & Irish Lions (Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town) – 20:00
Saturday, 17 July: Stormers v British & Irish Lions (Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town) – 18:00
Saturday, 24 July: Springboks v British & Irish Lions (1st Test, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town) – 18:00
Saturday, 31 July: Springboks v British & Irish Lions (2nd Test, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg) – 18:00
Saturday 7 August: Springboks v British & Irish Lions (3rd Test, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg) – 18:00
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