Provincial test for Lions

AUCKLAND: The British and Irish Lions’ opening match of their tour of New Zealand against the Provincial Barbarians on Saturday will be keenly watched for many reasons, but for captain Sam Warburton it will be more about shaking out the cobwebs.

The 28-year-old Welshman came into the tour under a cloud, having sustained a knee injury while playing for Cardiff a little less than two months ago and given a six-week recovery time.

Warburton beat the clock and was able to train with the squad in their pre-tour camps before the side left for New Zealand but he still felt that he would need to run himself back into match fitness over the next couple of weeks.

“I will need a good few games before I start hitting my straps but we all know that every game is a massive audition for the test matches,” Warburton told reporters in Auckland on Thursday.

Warburton’s side have arrived in New Zealand with huge expectations but only one other Lions team, Carwyn James’s 1971 side, have clinched a series against the All Blacks.

Consequently the opening match against players from New Zealand’s semi-professional provincial competition will be eagerly watched as a sign of what to expect from the touring party.

Despite the limited buildup as players filtered into the training camps due to club commitments, coach Warren Gatland said he had chosen his side last week and they had spent much of it training together.

Gatland, however, was reminded how serious the tour was being taken with the selection of the team to face the Barbarians already described as “a shambles.”

“The opening selections of the tour is a shambles,” British rugby columnist Mark Reason, who now lives in New Zealand, wrote for Fairfax Media.

“Gatland only has two more Saturdays after this one before the first test. He needs to start finding his combinations or the All Blacks will take his team apart.” Reuters