GATLAND THE GAMBLER SHOWS HIS HAND

FROM BACK PAGE beat the All Blacks you have to be courageous and play some rugby – you have to score tries and we’ve picked a team capable of doing that.”

Warburton, North and Halfpenny boast 214 Wales caps and were stars of the 2013 Lions series win over Australia.

But Gatland preferred England’s Elliot Daly at wing along with Wales full-back Liam Williams and handed the captaincy to Irish flanker Peter O’Mahony, as revealed in Mirror Sport on Tuesday. The fearless Kiwi also handed jerseys to centre Ben Te’o and hooker Jamie George, despite the England duo having only one Test start between them.

On the Lions’ last tour here boss Clive Woodward picked on reputation over form and they lost 3-0. Gatland’s sole concession to experience is in the selection of Alun Wyn Jones ahead of Maro Itoje.

But he is convinced that to beat the hosts, the Lions require impact off the bench. Itoje, Rhys Webb, Johnny Sexton and Kyle Sinckler offer exactly that.