O’Mahony to lead the Lions
IRISH flanker Peter O’Mahony will captain an experienced British and Irish Lions team for the match against the Maori All Blacks on Saturday, but tour skipper Sam Warburton gets another chance to press his claim for a test spot from the bench.
Warburton arrived on tour under an injury cloud having not played since April due to a knee injury, and only returned to action in the opening match against the Provincial Barbarians, a 13-7 victory.
The Welsh flanker scored a try in Tuesday’s loss to the Otago Highlanders, but will be hoping for plenty of game time to impress in Rotorua on Saturday, given the back row talent coach Warren Gatland has available to him.
Gatland was expected to select close to his first choice side for the fifth match of the tour with the first test against the All Blacks only a week away.
If that is the case, then the New Zealander will clearly be looking to dominate the hosts physically in midfield after naming Jonathan Davies and Ben Te’o in the centres.
Jonny Sexton also returned at flyhalf in an all-Irish combination with scrumhalf Connor Murray, while England’s Owen Farrell will be on the bench.
The hulking George North and pacy Anthony Watson will occupy the wings, with Leigh Halfpenny named at fullback, a position that might have been taken by Stuart Hogg, had the Scot not been ruled out of the tour by injury on Tuesday.
In the pack, England duo George Kruis and Maro Itoje will make up the second row with their international team mate Jamie George getting the nod at hooker.
“At this stage of the tour it is important to build on the foundations that have been laid in the last few weeks,” Gatland said in a news release.
“We were obviously disappointed with the loss against the Highlanders and realise that we need to improve in several areas, including our discipline, but we feel that overall we are building well towards the test matches.
“Every game is a big challenge, which is what we wanted, and this is an experienced Lions team with eight of the starting 15 involved in the last test in Australia in 2013.”
O’Mahony will lead the team from the blindside of the scrum with his Irish teammate Sean O’Brien at open side and Welshman Taulupe Faletau in the number eight jersey.
“Peter is a proven captain with Munster, who never takes a backward step and we believe that those leadership qualities will serve us well on Saturday against a quality and determined Maori All Blacks team,” Gatland added.
Meanwhile, discarded All Blacks utility back Damian McKenzie will have a chance to showcase his talents at flyhalf for the Maori All Blacks.
McKenzie, who played two Tests for the All Blacks last year, was surprisingly overlooked for the main Test squad.
Usurped by Jordie Barrett, the All Blacks staff said they would prefer to see McKenzie play more often at flyhalf, as they need a replacement for Aaron Cruden, who heads to France later this year.
“We’ve named a strong group who all have good clarity on how we want to play this match against the Lions,” Maori coach Colin Cooper said in a statement. “We feel Damian will suit the game plan that we want to play, from the number 10 position.”
With the match branded an unofficial fourth Test, nine of the 23-man squad have played at least one All Blacks Test.
Cooper also included winger Rieko Ioane and scrumhalf Tawera Kerr-Barlow in the starting side after they were released from the All Blacks squad for the match. – Reuters