British and Irish Lions vs New Zealand Provincial Barbarians - as it happened: Tourists clinch nervy victory
Re-live all the action from Toll Stadium
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Your support makes all the difference.The British and Irish Lions begin their 2017 tour of New Zealand in Whangarei against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians in the first of their 10 scheduled matches. Follow the latest here.
- British and Irish Lions vs New Zealand Provincial Barbarians kicks off at 19:35 [08:35 BST]
- Sam Warburton captains the Lions
- Nine players to make Lions debut with another five replacements set for first appearances
- Jonathan Sexton starts at 10 with Greig Laidlaw at scrum-half
Follow the latest here...
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What time does it start?
The Lions vs New Zealand Provincial Barbarians kicks off at 19:35 local time [08:35 BST] at Toll Stadium in Whangarai.
What TV channel is it on?
The match will be shown live on Sky Sports 1 from 08:00 BST.
Teams...
New Zealand Provincial Barbarians:
Luteru Laulala; Sam Vaka, Inga Finau, Dwanye Sweeney, Sevu Reece; Bryn Gatland, Jack Stratton; Aidan Ross, Sam Anderson-Heater, Oliver Jager; Josh Goodhue, Keepa Mewett; James Tucker, Lachlan Boshier, Mitchell Dunshea.
Replacements: Andrew Makalio, Tolu Fahamokioa, Marcel Renata, Matt Matich, Peter Rowe, Richard Judd, Jonah Lowe, Joe Webber.
British and Irish Lions:
Stuart Hogg; Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Ben Te’o, Tommy Seymour; Jonathan Sexton, Greig Laidlaw; Joe Marler, Rory Best, Kyle Sinckler; Alun Wyn Jones, Iain Henderson; Ross Moriarty, Sam Warburton, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacement: Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, Tadhg Furlong, George Kruis, Justin Tipuric, Rhys Webb, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly.
Hello and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's British and Irish Lions tour opener against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians, which takes place at Toll Stadium in Whangarei.
Four years of waiting, 12 years of painful memories and 46 years of anticipation that 2017 this could finally be the year the British and Irish Lions beat the All Blacks. Today's match kicks off the 10-match tour of New Zealand, with the Provincial Barbarians first up for Warren Gatland's side.
With an hour and a half to go until kick-off, we'll bring you all the build-up, latest news and pre-match analysis needed for the Lions tour, before providing minute-by-minute updates from pitchside at Toll Stadium in Whangarei.
Have you been keeping an eye on matters in New Zealand? If not, well why not?! But do not fear, as we've been keeping a Lions video diary that you can use to catch up on what the Lions have been up to since arriving in New Zealand.
Here's day one when they touched down in Auckland...
Day two brought the Lions' first training session at the QBE Stadium, Sam Warburton's first full press conference and the team announcement for the clash with the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians:
And finally, yesterday brought rain - and lots of it! 24 hours of torrential rain battered Whangarei, but despite the treacherous conditions, NZRU officials confirmed that they never had any fears over the game:
Having been made to wait four years ago, captain Sam Warburton gets an immediate run out tonight, with the skipper leading a fairly experienced side. However, two notable names are that of Kyle Sinckler and Ben Te'o, the two England players who have just eight international caps each, with the former yet to start a Test match for his country.
Who will win the New Zealand vs British and Irish Lions Test series?
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