‘We have to be brave to beat them’

continuously been strong at set-piece and have been good defensively in the last two or three outings,” said Gatland. “But to beat the All Blacks you have to be courageous and play some rugby – you have to score tries – and I think we have picked a team capable of doing that.

“The win against the Chiefs was extremely important for the squad and some players played themselves into the side.

“Elliot has been very accurate in the way he has played and we saw some excellent attacking play from Liam on Tuesday night. We’re excited about the 15 that take the field but also the very strong and experienced bench players who will have an impact.” There are seven Englishmen, four Welshmen and four Irishmen in the starting line-up but no Scots after Stuart Hogg was invalided out of the tour.

It was widely expected Halfpenny would step in given his sharp-shooting but the Toulon full-back, whose last try for Wales was in 2013, does not have the game-breaking talents of Williams.

The Lions have been widely – and predictably – criticised in New Zealand for their pedestrian, plodding brand of rugby but Gatland’s hope is that a back three that also has the pace of Daly and Anthony Watson will silence his compatriots and cause the All Blacks the problems they are used to giving other sides. It is a gamble as the trio have not started a game together on tour but with the All Blacks bringing in the flying Rieko Ioane, there is a danger of scorch marks being left on the pitch.

In all, there were eight first-time Test Lions named including hooker Jamie George who is thrown in at the deep end having not yet started a Test for England. “Jamie George is a European champion. I have no qualms about him starting a Test,” said Lions scrum coach Graham Rowntree.

“Jamie is leading that group already vocally and at the set-piece. His performances speak for themselves.” While George will have Saracens team-mates Mako Vunipola and George Kruis alongside him in the pack, Maro Itoje will be on the bench, with Gatland preferring the experience of Alun Wyn Jones.

The starting pack is the same one that accounted for the Crusaders early in the tour, which means no Warburton, who has played only two and a half hours of rugby in the last 11 weeks because of knee and ankle injuries.

Instead O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien and Taulupe Faletau will make up the back row.

“It’s a reward for how the back row has gone,” said Gatland.

“There is a nice balance there, while Peter captained the side against the Maori All Blacks and has done a good job.”

Elliot has been very accurate