MURRAY BLOW
Lions set to go with Price ahead of Ireland No9
ALUN-WYN JONES will lead a Lions side full of shock selections into the first Test against South Africa on Saturday with Conor Murray, the man who replaced Jones as captain when it was thought he was out of the tour, set to miss out on a starting spot
The Wales captain has been cleared to start after recovering from a dislocated shoulder and he will be at the helm of a daring line-up to be named by head coach Warren Gatland this morning.
Scotland scrum-half Ali Price has edged out Murray, who has gone from tour captain and senior starter to bench back-up in a matter of days.
Stuart Hogg has come out of Covid isolation to start at full back, Luke Cowan-Dickie has forced his way into the first-choice front row at hooker and Ireland and Leinster star Jack Conan is another form pick at No 8.
Robbie Henshaw and Elliot Daly resume their midfield link from last weekend’s Stormers game. Anthony Watson and Duhan van der Merwe are preferred out wide. Owen Farrell only makes the bench, while those omitted entirely include Taulupe Faletau, Jamie George and Josh Adams.
ACCUSATIONS that South Africa are underdone for the first Test against the British and Irish Lions will only ‘throw more petrol on the fire’ that is burning within the Springboks camp, according to hooker Bongi Mbonambi.
The hosts will be captained by Siya Kolisi in Saturday’s match in Cape Town. He is back after 10 days in isolation, having been one of 14 squad members to return a positive Covid-19 test.
The disrupted nature of the Boks’ training camp, combined with the team being out of Test action since their World Cup success in November 2019, is hardly ideal preparation for facing the Lions.
Despite that, Mbonambi, another player who has been forced to isolate, said South Africa were ready to prove people wrong.
‘The people out there saying we’re underdone, all it will do is throw more petrol on the fire that is burning,’ he said.
‘We’ll see what happens on Saturday. The whole team is looking forward to it.
‘We are at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to top-tier international game-time. It’s one of the realities of Covid, but we’ve been working hard on and off the field, analysing the Lions and doing as much as we can to be prepared.’
The Springboks certainly do not lack experience, with the starting XV holding over 500 caps to their name.
In all, the 23-man matchday squad selected by coach Jacques Nienaber includes 21 players who featured in the country’s triumphant World Cup campaign of
2019.
Wing Makazole Mapimpi and prop Ox Nche, who like Kolisi only returned to the camp on Monday after completing Covid isolation, are also in the starting line-up.
Nienaber has stuck with the same forward pack which began the 40-9 success over Georgia on July 2, with scrum-half Faf De Klerk, centres Damian De Allende and Lukhanyo Am and wings Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe the five men recalled.
Loosehead Nche will pack down alongside Mbonambi and tighthead Trevor Nyakane, ahead of locks Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert, with blindside Kolisi and openside Pieter-Steph du Toit either side of Kwagga Smith in the back row.
Sale number nine De Klerk resumes his half-back partnership with vice-captain Pollard, with full-back Willie Le Roux retaining his starting spot, while De Allende, Am, Mapimpi and Kolbe each returning.
Nienaber, who described Kolisi’s inclusion as ‘very important’ for the team, is prepared to freshen up his side at any time in the match rather than wait for an hour to pass.
‘The moment they don’t fulfil their role due to tiredness or due to Covid or not having been exposed to rugby for some time, that is when we will make a substitution,’ he said.
‘The players know they have a specific role to play and the moment we see a drop-off, we will see a substitution.”
Nienaber brought forward the announcement of his squad by a day, but insisted it was not an attempt at mind games, with the squad having been informed of his plans on Monday.
“Irrespective of whether we announced it on a Wednesday or a Tuesday, they knew the team already. It was probably easier to get it out of the way. There is no strategic thinking,’ he said. Meanwhile, Anthony Watson’s memory of the 2019 World Cup final has provided two essential pointers for the British and Irish Lions series’ opener against South Africa start fast and win the aerial battle. Watson was present for England’s crushing defeat by the Springboks in Japan and is expected to be given a prominent role in Saturday’s clash at Cape Town Stadium Twenty months ago Eddie Jones’ men began slowly and never recovered with Watson also viewing the world champions’ barrage in the air, directed by half-backs Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard, as instrumental in their downfall.
‘The importance of the kicking game, that was huge in that World Cup final. We came out second best to them. They definitely dominated us in that area,’ the Bath wing said.
‘They gained great momentum and gained great field position from that area and that gave them the leg up they needed.
‘And similar to the South Africa A game last week as well as the World Cup final, the start was huge.
‘We didn’t put ourselves in good positions in either of those two games and therefore found ourselves trying to claw our way back into the game, which is much more difficult against a team like South Africa.
‘It’s important to get off to a good start, 100 per cent against these guys. And that’s it on a smaller scale if you look at the entire series - how important it is to get off to a good start, not only in the game but in the series.’