RECAP: B&I Lions v Japan
READERS’ FORUM: Welcome to our live coverage of the historic encounter between the British and Irish Lions and Japan at Murrayfield.
They have been trying hard to sell it as the real deal, but in essence, it is a ‘curtain raiser’ for the eight-match tour to South Africa.
With the Premiership Final keeping some key players back and the Saracens crew arriving late, the proper jostling for Test places won’t start until they arrive in the Republic.
Despite the protestations to the contrary, most of their planning has already been geared towards the tour that gets underway with a match against the Johannesburg-based Lions next Saturday.
* To read our pre-match predictions, CLICK HERE!
* Our live blog will appear below, it might take a little while to load, please be patient. We apologise for the inconvenience!
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Teams
British and Irish Lions: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rory Sutherland.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Ali Price, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Anthony Watson.
Japan: 15 Ryohei Yamanaka, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Siosaia Fifita, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Kaito Shigeno, 8 Amanaki Lelei Mafi, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Michael Leitch (captain), 5 James Moore, 4 Wimpie van der Walt, 3 Jiwon Koo, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 1 Keita Inagaki.
Replacements: 16 Kosuke Horikoshi, 17 Craig Millar, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Jack Cornelsen, 20 Kazuki Himeno, 21 Tevita Tatafu, 22 Naoto Saito, 23 Rikiya Matsuda.
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère
Assistant referees: Pierre Brousset, Ludovic Cayre
TMO: Eric Gauzins
