Lions make late changes as Liam Williams and Owen Farrell step up

The late withdrawals of Josh Adams and Dan Biggar has forced the Lions to draft in Liam Williams and Owen Farrell, despite the latter having initially not been considered due to a slight abdominal strain.

Adams, the Tour’s top try scorer, drops out of the matchday squad to join his partner via Zoom to witness the birth of his first child while Biggar picked up a slight ankle injury in training on Tuesday.

Williams starts at fullback, with Anthony Watson moving from there to the left wing.

"Dan's got a minor ankle sprain which is not worth risking, so Owen comes in at 10," said the Lions head coach, Warren Gatland.

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“We’ve always said family comes first, so naturally Josh drops out as planned to be with his partner. We wish them both our very best wishes for an easy delivery.”

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BRITISH & IRISH LIONS (v South Africa A): Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales); Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester, Wales), Chris Harris (Gloucester, Scotland), Bundee Aki (Connacht, Ireland), Anthony Watson (Bathy, England); Owen Farrell (Saracens, England), Conor Murray (Munster, Ireland, capt); Wyn Jones (Scarlets, Wales), Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales), Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, England); Maro Itoje (Saracens, England), Iain Henderson (Ulster, Ireland); Josh Navidi (Cardiff, Wales), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England), Taulupe Faletau (Bath, Wales).

Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England), Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland), Adam Beard (Ospreys, Wales), Tadhg Beirne (Munster, Ireland), Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, England), Gareth Davies (Scarlets, Wales), Elliot Daly (Saracens, England).