Lions team news: Keith Earls will have a chance to get his Lions tour back on track tomorrow after he was named in the starting line-up for the game against the Cheetahs. Earls will start alongside Luke Fitzgerald in an all-Irish midfield partnership while Stephen Ferris will also make his Lions debut.
Paul O’Connell resumes the leadership responsibilities and is joined in the second row by his Munster colleague Donncha O’Callaghan. Ronan O’Gara and Gordon D’Arcy are named on the replacements bench.
Earls endured a trying start to his Lions career last weekend, a series of unforced errors punctuating a nervous performance before he was forced off with a shoulder injury. His frustration was laid bare when he angrily booted the ball away after spilling a high kick from the Royal XV.
The resulting lineout led to a try for the homeside as the minnows threatened to claim a shock win. But the backroom staff were quick to lend the Munster youngster their support and he will have a chance for redemption tomorrow afternoon in Bloemfontein.
Ferris makes his debut having recovered from a calf strain suffered, bizarrely, when alighting from the team bus, and Fitzgerald also makes his first appearance in a Lions shirt.
Leigh Halfpenny will get a belated first taste of action after finally being passed fit to join the squad. The Wales winger, who linked up with the squad on Tuesday after recovering from a thigh injury, will start on the wing.
None of the starting XV from Wednesday’s record 74-10 victory over the Golden Lions will feature.
James Hook starts at outhalf with Harry Ellis at scrum-half, while number eight Andy Powell, flanker Stephen Ferris, hooker Ross Ford and prop Euan Murray also make their first Lions starts.
Riki Flutey and Martyn Williams were the only two players unavailable for selection with knee and shoulder injuries respectively.
McGeechan said: “With the selection of Donncha O’Callaghan, Leigh Halfpenny and Luke Fitzgerald in the starting XV it means that all the squad players will have taken to the field according to plan.
“We also have new arrival Gordon D’Arcy on the bench which gives him a chance to get straight into the action.
“Although there are no players backing up from the starting XV against the Golden Lions, several of the replacements who saw action in that match have now been selected for their first start.
“For the Cheetahs match Andy Powell, Stephen Ferris, Euan Murray, Ross Ford, Harry Ellis and James Hook are all in the starting XV team for the first time. The team includes an all Welsh back three, an Irish combination in midfield and a Munster second row pairing.
“We are also are continuing to build partnerships and combinations among the players from the four nations and this is reflected in the front row where Scottish team-mates Euan Murray and Ross Ford will pack down in the front row alongside Andrew Sheridan, and the backrow where three players from three different nations will play alongside each other.”
The Lions were in imperious form against the Golden Lions in midweek but the challenge this week is to raise the bar higher again.
Tour manager Gerald Davies said: “The boys who played against the Golden Lions put down a marker in terms of the way we want to play and I know those playing against the Cheetahs will be very keen to keep the momentum going and produce another strong Lions performance.”
British & Irish Lions: L Byrne (Ospreys/Wales); L Halfpenny (Cardiff/Wales), K Earls (Munster/Ireland), L Fitzgerald (Leinster/Ireland), S Williams (Ospreys/Wales); J Hook (Ospreys/Wales), H Ellis (Leicester/England); A Sheridan (Sale/England), R Ford (Edinburgh/Scotland), E Murray (Northampton/Scotland), D O'Callaghan (Munster/Ireland), P O'Connell (Munster/Ireland), S Ferris (Ulster/Ireland), J Worsley (Wasps/England), A Powell (Cardiff Blues/Wales)
Replacements: M Rees (Scarlets/Wales), A Jones (Ospreys/Wales), S Shaw (Wasps/England), N Hines (Perpignan/Scotland), M Blair (Edinburgh/Scotland), R O'Gara (Munster/Ireland), G D'Arcy (Leinster/Ireland)
