Henry Pollock will make his first start for the British and Irish Lions against the Western Force this weekend, continuing his meteoric rise.
The budding Northampton Saints and England star lines up at number eight in Perth as one of 13 changes made by head coach Andy Farrell to the side who lost 28-24 to Argentina in a farewell fixture in Dublin last week.
With tour captain Maro Itoje not in the squad for Saturday’s opener Down Under at Optus Stadium, the team is skippered by Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan, making his first Lions appearance.
He is one of eight Ireland players in the starting XV, with nine from Leinster in the matchday 23.
Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu and Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne are the only players to retain their starting berths from that shock defeat by the Pumas in the 1888 Cup, with Tuipulotu shifting to his familiar position at inside centre and Beirne moving from the second row to blindside flanker.
“We have had a good week of training and all of the travel and time zone changes have been managed really well, so we are good to go,” said Farrell.
“Dan Sheehan gets the opportunity to lead the side against Western Force, which is a great honour for him and his family - so congratulations to Dan as he captains the side on his Lions debut.
“We know the quality and experience the Force have and the opportunity to play against the Lions always brings out special performances from the Super Rugby sides, so we expect them to be at their best.”
Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams and Ireland’s Australia-born wing Mack Hansen are both rewarded for impressive cameos off the bench against Argentina with starts in Perth, while Garry Ringrose lines up alongside Tuipulotu in a new midfield combination, replacing Irish team-mate Bundee Aki.
Lions tour veteran Elliot Daly replaces England team-mate Marcus Smith at full-back, with Finn Russell taking over from Fin Smith at fly-half and James Lowe picked to start opposite Hansen.
In the pack, props Pierre Schoeman and Tadhg Furlong come in either side of hooker Sheehan, with a new second-row pairing of Scott Cummings and Joe McCarthy. Pollock is joined in the back row by Ireland pair Beirne and Josh van der Flier.
England duo Marcus Smith and Alex Mitchell drop to the bench, where Ronan Kelleher is named as the back-up hooker once more.
Otherwise it’s another new group featuring Scotland centre Huw Jones, now recovered from an Achilles injury, plus England’s Will Stuart and Ollie Chessum, and Ireland forwards Andrew Porter and Jack Conan.
Irish trio Jamison Gibson-Park, Hugo Keenan and James Ryan are all absent having been dealing with injuries of late.
Sheehan, Ringrose, Lowe, McCarthy and Van der Flier are all poised to earn their Lions debuts this weekend, along with Chessum, Jones, Porter and Stuart off the bench.
The Western Force named their team earlier on Thursday, with versatile Australia fly-half Ben Donaldson a late release from the Wallabies camp to replace the injured Kurtley Beale, ruled out of a Lions reunion 12 years after his last-gasp missed kick in Brisbane with a hamstring issue.
Donaldson was initially one of the players ‘ring-fenced’ by Australia head coach Joe Schmidt amid an escalating war of words with the Lions over the issue of releasing his players back to their Super Rugby franchises for tour matches.
Fellow Australia call-ups Nick Champion de Crespigny, Dylan Pietsch, Tom Robertson, Darcy Swain and Nic White all start, along with Sam Carter and Hamish Stewart, plus ex-All Blacks centre Matt Proctor. Former England hooker Nic Dolly is among the replacements.
However, usual Force captain Jeremy Williams remains in the Wallabies camp preparing to face Fiji in their only warm-up game for the three-Test series against the Lions in Newcastle on July 6, along with flanker Carlo Tizzano and wing Harry Potter.
The Western Force lost 69-17 in their only previous meeting with the Lions, the opening match of the 2013 tour.
Western Force vs British and Irish Lions teams
Western Force XV: Donaldson; Grealy, Proctor, Stewart, Pietsch; Harford, White; T Robertson, Paenga-Amosa, Hoskins; Carter, Swain; Harris, Champion de Crespigny, Ekuasi
Replacements: Dolly, Pearce, Tauakipulu, Faifua, Prinsep, H Robertson, Burey, Kuenzle
British and Irish Lions XV: Daly; Hansen, Ringrose, Tuipulotu, Lowe; Russell, Williams; Schoeman, Sheehan, Furlong; Cummings, McCarthy; Beirne, Van der Flier, Pollock
Replacements: Kelleher, Porter, Stuart, Chessum, Conan, Mitchell, Jones, M Smith
