British and Irish Lions 2017: Sam Warburton leads squad against New Zealand Provincial Barbarians
Warren Gatland names Warburton in his first XV despite not having played since the start of April due to injury
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Your support makes all the difference.Sam Warburton will captain the British and Irish Lions in their opening warm-up match of the 2017 tour of New Zealand in what will be his first appearance in nearly two months as he bids to prove he is fully fit to lead Warren Gatland’s squad.
The Cardiff Blues flanker suffered a knee injury on 7 April that saw him miss the remainder of the domestic season, and heads into the Lions tour severely undercooked and facing a battle against time to be make the start of the tour.
But after confirming he is fully fit and enjoyed a full two-week training camp with Gatland’s side, Warburton will lead a side that shows five Englishmen, four Welshmen, three Irishmen and three Scotsmen in this Saturday’s match against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians.
As well having tour captain Warburton leading the side, all three international captains in the 41-man touring party are included in Wales’ Alun Wyn Jones, Ireland’s Rory Best and Scotland’s Greig Laidlaw, along with English pair Kyle Sinckler and Ben Te’o, who will make their first appearances for the Lions.
"We are all hugely excited about the first game on tour, it's a great opportunity for the starting XV and the whole match day squad to lay down a marker and get the tour off to a good start,” Gatland said after announcing his side.
"We have named a side that showcases a strong combination of experience and youth and we are really looking forward to Saturday.
"We are lucky to have some real leaders in the squad and to be able to select them for this match in the likes of Rory Best, Alun Wyn Jones and Greig Laidlaw. I'm looking forward to seeing what Greig can do alongside Johnny Sexton who both are experienced half-backs. It is also great to have Sam starting in the first game of the tour, something he didn't do in 2013 and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do this weekend.”
Gatland has also decided to name an all-Welsh back-row, with Ross Moriarty due to make his first appearance for the Lions alongside 2013 tourists Warburton and Taulupe Faletau, while Jonathan Sexton wins the battle for the fly-half role as England’s Owen Farrell is named among the replacements alongside three of his international colleagues in Jamie George, Mako Vunipola and George Kruis.
"The balance of the squad is really good, we have selected the majority of players who were together for the training weeks in Wales and Ireland and they have worked together and prepared well for a number of weeks. It is important these guys get a run early and lay down a marker for others to follow. We've picked the team for Saturday but it is still the plan to try and give the whole squad a start in the next two matches. It is important the players get that opportunity, because if they go well and the team goes well, they put themselves in the shop window for a Test start."
Warburton was forced to wait until the third match of the tour four years ago as a knee injury meant that he missed the early warm-up matches against the Barbarians and the Western Force, meaning the captain was actually among the final members of the original squad to wear the Lions shirt in action.
This time around, Warburton pressed his case to play in the opening match of the tour, which takes place at Toll Stadium in Whangerei on Saturday, and having spent a full two weeks in camp before flying out of New Zealand this week, the flanker stressed ahead of the squad selection that he wanted to play on the tour sooner rather than later.
Despite the hectic schedule ahead, Warburton believes that with the start of the warm-up matches comes less time to think about them and more time to enjoy them, given they come “thick and fast” with 10 matches across just 31 days in New Zealand.
Once we get into that first game it's all guns blazing from there
“The good thing is when the first game gets underway they start coming think and fast,” the captain said. “It's nice to get that first game under your belt. You don't have a lot of time to think between games, you enjoy them because they come so quick.
“Once we get into that first game it's all guns blazing from there.”
British and Irish Lions squad to face New Zealand Provincial Barbarians:
Hogg; Watson, Joseph, Te’o, Seymour; Sexton, Laidlaw; Marler, Best, Sinckler; Jones, Henderson; Moriarty, Warburton, Faletau.
Replacements: George, Vunipola, Furlong, Kruis, Tipuric, Webb, Farrell, Payne.
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