British and Irish Lions Head Coach Warren Gatland hints that his team selection for the opening test against South Africa this weekend, will leave his side well placed to get a result at Cape Town Stadium.
The former Wales boss says that his team selection is one which he feels will best cope with the physicality of the Springboks in what will be tough conditions in Cape Town at the weekend.
To date, the tour has been full of drama as initially skipper Alun Wyn Jones was ruled out with a shoulder injury having limped off at Murrayfield at the end of June.
Not to mention the brief Covid-19 scare in the southern hemisphere that was rumoured to have the remaining games scheduled for the tour, on the rocks.
Fully focussed on the opening test, Gatland suggests that his cunning team selection targets all aspects of the game
"It's two-fold,” he revealed during a press conference earlier today.
“You can't go into match against South Africa without knowing that you have to match their physicality because you can't allow them dominance.
"Test match rugby is all about the physical battle and that doesn't change, but it's also about being smart and when those attacking opportunities come we have got to be able to capitalise on them.
"We are in a great position from a conditioning point of view, so we are not going to fall away. We think as the game goes on we are going to get stronger and stronger.
"We are going to be in an arm wrestle but we are confident we can work through that. You're not going to get everything your way in a Test match but there are times when you will have some ascendancy and we think we can capitalise on that,” he admitted.
Ireland’s Conor Murray was named on the bench alongside despite replacing Jones as captain when the Welshman was a doubt due to injury but in a dramatic turn of events the lock will take back the armband in his tenth consecutive tour.
Owen Farrell was also handed a place on the bench whilst there was no place for Ireland and Ulster’s Iain Henderson as Leinster’s Jack Conan gets the nod at number eight.
Scotland's Stuart Hogg, wing Duhan van der Merwe, centre Elliot Daly and scrum-half Ali Price were handed starting berths whilst veterans Taulupe Faletau, Mako Vunipola and Jamie George miss out on the 23-man squad.
The Lions will play a further two tests against the Springboks on July 31 and August 7 and Gatland alluded to the ‘marathon not a sprint’ process suggesting that certain players will receive chances as the tour progresses.
