Find out who is in Warren Gatland’s line-up for the midweek fixture in Cape Town
British & Irish Lions team to play South Africa A
Warren Gatland has named his team for the second midweek fixture of the British & Irish Lions 2021 tour, against South Africa A in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Conor Murray will lead the Lions for the first time since being named tour captain – and he will link up at half-back with Owen Farrell after Dan Biggar was ruled out shortly before kick-off by a minor ankle sprain picked up in training.
Josh Adams is also a late withdrawal. The Wales wing is joining his partner via Zoom to witness the birth of their first child.
Anthony Watson moves from full-back to wing to replace him, with Liam Williams now starting at 15.
Maro Itoje, who was a late withdrawal from Saturday’s team due to a gastric bug, starts in the second row alongside Iain Henderson.
This is likely to be the Lions’ hardest fixture to date, with several Springboks set to be in the opposition line-up.
Gatland said: “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.”
British & Irish Lions team to play South Africa A
Liam Williams; Anthony Watson, Chris Harris, Bundee Aki, Louis Rees-Zammit; Owen Farrell, Conor Murray (captain); Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, Iain Henderson, Josh Navidi, Tom Curry, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Mako Vunipola, Zander Fagerson, Adam Beard, Tadhg Beirne, Sam Simmonds, Gareth Davies, Elliot Daly.
The match at Cape Town Stadium will kick off at 7pm (UK & Ireland time) on Wednesday night and all tour matches are televised live on Sky Sports.
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