Lions 2017: Team to face All Blacks in first Test
British & Irish Lions

Lions 2017: Team to face All Blacks in first Test

21 June 2017
Rugby Rucker
British & Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland has selected his team to face the All Blacks in the first Test at Eden Park on Saturday morning.

Warren Gatland has given some reaction to the 23 he’s announced:

“We have picked a side based on form with a lot of players putting their hands up, especially from the Crusaders and Maori All Blacks games, and it was a lively selection meeting.

“The win against the Chiefs was also extremely important for the squad and some players played themselves into the side.

“We have continuously been strong at set-piece and have been good defensively in the last two or three outings. But to beat the All Blacks you have to be courageous and play some rugby – you have to score tries and I think we have picked a team capable of doing that.”

See the Sll Blacks XV HERE


— British&Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) June 21, 2017

British and Irish Lions: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 George Kruis, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Tadgh Furlong, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Sam Warburton, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Jonathan Sexton, 23 Leigh Halfpenny
Date: Saturday, June 24
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Kick-off: 19:35 local (07:35 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Jérôme Garcès (France)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)

nny.