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Wales forward Alun Wyn Jones will captain the British and Irish Lions in their Test opener against South Africa on Saturday, despite being ruled out of the tour four weeks ago.
Jones looked set to miss the tour when he was ruled out for several weeks after dislocating his shoulder in the Lions’ opening warm-up match against Japan at the end of June.
After a remarkable recovery, the Welshman was given the all-clear to re-join the squad after proving his fitness in multiple assessed training sessions with the Wales squad, and the lock came off the bench to play 27 minutes in the Lions’ latest outing.
The 35-year-old, who will become the first player in the professional era to make 10 successive Test caps for the Lions, will be aiming to captain the side to a victory over South Africa, something the Lions were unable to do in 2009.
Warren Gatland’s side have enjoyed a successful tour so far, winning six of their seven warm-up matches. The Lions’ only defeat came against a very strong South Africa ‘A’ side, which featured nine of the Springboks’ first Test starters.
Gatland, who is yet to lose a test as Head Coach, has named three Scotland players in his starting 15 for the first time in 14 years. Duhan van der Merwe joins Stuart Hogg in the back three, whilst Ali Price starts at scrum-half ahead of Ireland’s Conor Murray.
Nine starters will make their Lions Test debuts, including Tom Curry, who becomes the first Sale Sharks player since Jason Robinson in 2001, to start for the Lions in an opening Test match.
However, there is no place in the matchday squad for the tours top try-scorer Josh Adams, who became a father during the week. The Welshman has eight tries in three matches for the Lions, and Gatland has no doubts Adams will feature in the remaining matches.
The Lions take on a South Africa side who have won their last seven successive matches, with the Springboks’ last defeat coming against New Zealand in the opening match of the 2019 World Cup.
Newly-appointed Head Coach Jacques Nienaber has included 11 of the World Cup final starters in his 15 to play the Lions, with captain Siya Kolisi one of a number of players to return after recovering from Covid-19.
Trio Handre Pollard, who makes his 50th international appearance, Makazole Mpimpi and Ox Nche have also been named in the starting line-up after their periods of self-isolation concluded.
Two Sale Sharks players have been named in the South Africa matchday squad. The energetic Faf de Klerk starts for the Springboks at scrum-half, whilst colossal lock, Lood de Jager, is named amongst the substitutes.
Usually, when these two meet in Cape Town for a Test match, victory goes the way of the hosts. South Africa have won eight of the 11 Test matches, and they were also victorious at the Cape Town Stadium over a week ago.
The hosts dominated the first-half and rightfully they led 17-3 at the break after tries from Sbu Nkosi and Lukhanyo Am combined with seven points from the boot of Morne Steyn. However, the Lions fought back in the second-half with a try from Wyn Jones but found themselves four points short at the final whistle.
Gatland will be hoping his side, who are favourites to win the Test, can get off to a winning start tomorrow evening, as he aims to lead the Lions to another tour victory.
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