Three players to debut for Lions against Brumbies
COACH Warren Gatland has challenged his patched-up British and Irish Lions to maintain their momentum and remain unbeaten with victory over the ACT Brumbies tomorrow.
With an eye on next weekend’s opening Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane, Gatland will give three players their Lions debuts while veteran Welsh winger Shane Williams will be “dropping in” for a three-day stint.
The Lions are unbeaten in five tour games and yesterday named six players of their matchday 23-man squad from outside their original 37-strong selection.
Christian Wade, Billy Twelvetrees and Brad Barritt will be making their Lions debuts in the backline having flown in over the weekend, while Williams will come out of his international retirement to join the squad to play on a third Lions tour from his stint in Japanese club rugby.
Two forwards were previously called in as replacements – Ryan Grant and Alex Corbisiero.
“We just went through picking a team last night, trying to look through the looking glass towards Saturday a little bit and thinking about the players,” Gatland said.
“The decision was made in terms of Christian and Brad to bring them in.
“We felt there were a number of players who were either sore or had backed up and, again, if you look at our back three we felt we were pretty short there at the moment.
“To give us the best chance for next week, rather than potentially playing someone on Saturday, Tuesday, then Saturday, we thought we’d be proactive and call someone in now.”
Gatland said Test spots were still up for grabs for the Brisbane series opener.
Gatland said his decision to call for 36-yearold Williams to join the tour was a “one off”.
Injuries are mounting in the Lions squad with Jamie Roberts having a scan on his injured right leg and George North struggling with a hamstring. Tommy Bowe has a broken hand, Brian O’Driscoll was fit enough to play, but wasn’t considered, and Manu Tuilagi is treating an injured shoulder. — Sapa-AFP