Murray finally leads the B&I Lions
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland has named his team to play South Africa ‘A’ at Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday.
Tour captain Conor Murray is named skipper of a starting XV – which has 12 changes to the team that defeated the Sharks 31-71 at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend.
Anthony Watson, Chris Harris and Dan Biggar are the only players retained from the second encounter with the Sharks.
Watson shifts from right wing to fullback, with Harris moving to No.13 – where he is joined in midfield by Bundee Aki.
Biggar will again start at flyhalf.
The game against South Africa ‘A’ is the fourth match in an eight-game tour – culminating in the three Tests against World Champions Springboks.
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“We’re pleased to have arrived in Cape Town as we near the halfway stage of the Series,” said Gatland.
“Wednesday’s game against South Africa ‘A’ will be our toughest encounter since we arrived here and we’re looking forward to it.
“We expect them to be physical in the contact area and look to test us at scrum time.
“I think we’ve benefitted from playing at altitude in the first three games.
“While the boys have felt it in their lungs, they’ll be all the better for it now we’re at sea level.
“As we move towards the business end of the Tour, it’s pleasing to see so many players putting in some stand-out performances.
“As coaches we want the players to make Test selection as hard as possible and that’s what we’re seeing.”
British and Irish Lions: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Conor Murray (captain_, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Wyn Jones.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Tadhg Beirne, 21 Sam Simmonds, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Elliot Daly.
Date: Wednesday, July 14
Venue: Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Kick-off: 20.00 (19.00 BST; 18.00 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
