Golden Lions v British & Irish Lions: After being wrapped in cotton wool for the first week of the tour, Brian O'Driscoll will be thrust into the front-line when the British and Irish Lions tackle the Golden Lions on Wednesday evening. The Ireland skipper, who didn't train until late last week as he nursed a shoulder injury, will captain a side containing five Irish players in the match at Ellis Park.
O’Driscoll is joined by Rob Kearney, Tommy Bowe, David Wallace and Jamie Heaslip in the starting line-up while Stephen Ferris will have to wait for his first taste of action after being named on the replacements bench.
Bowe, who scored the first Lions try of the current tour, Wallace and Heaslip all featured against the Royal XV on Saturday but Kearney is among five debutants in the side.
“The starting XV is very different to the one that played against the Royal XV on Saturday,” head coach Ian McGeechan said at today’s team announcement.
“There are only three players backing up from that match but six of the replacements have been promoted to Wednesday’s starting XV for the Golden Lions match. This is in line with our intention that all players will play a full match in the first three matches on tour.”
“The team has a very solid core with Brian O’Driscoll, Stephen Jones, David Wallace, Phil Vickery and Gethin Jenkins who are all very experienced internationals and previous Lions tourists.”
Wallace, drafted in as a late replacement at number eight in Rustenburg, reverts to his more familiar openside role as the Lions look to up the tempo in the wake of a lacklustre first run out.
“The team has trained well,” added McGeechan. “We have worked on several key areas following the first match which has given us a base from which to keep developing our game.”
Springboks Jannes Labuschagne and Heinke van der Merwe have both been ruled out of the Golden Lions side. Lock Labuschagne and prop van der Merwe are injured and will miss the clash at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Golden Lions coach Hans Coetzee though, can still call on South African international fly-half Andre Pretorius and his fellow Springbok, prop Lawrence Sephaka, as key components of the team.
The replacements’ bench, meanwhile, includes two forwards bound for English Premiership club Saracens next season — hooker Ethienne Reynecke and flanker Ernst Joubert.
Golden Lions: L Ludik; M Killian, J Boshoff, D la Grange, D Noble; A Pretorius, J Vermaak; L Sephaka, W Wepener, G Muller, B Mockford, W Stoltz, C Grobbelaar, F van der Merwe, W Alberts. Replacements: E Reynecke, J Van Rensburg, E Joubert, T Clever, C Jonck, W Venter, E Rose.
British & Irish Lions: R Kearney (Leinster/Ireland); T Bowe (Ospreys/Ireland), B O'Driscoll (Leinster/Ireland), J Roberts (Cardiff/Wales) U Monye (Harlequins/England); S Jones (Scarlets/Wales), M Phillips (Ospreys/Wales); 3. G Jenkins (Cardiff Blues/Wales), L Mears (Bath/England), P Vickery (Wasps/England); N Hines (Perpignan/Scotland), A Wyn Jones (Ospreys/Wales); T Croft (Leicester/England), D Wallace (Munster/Ireland), J Heaslip (Leinster/Ireland). Replacements: R Ford (Edinburgh/Scotland), E Murray (Northampton/Scotland), S Ferris (Ulster/Ireland), A Powell (Cardiff/Wales), H Ellis (Leicester/England), J Hook (Ospreys/Wales), S Williams (Ospreys/Wales).
