It's been leaked to the media that Mako Vunipola is set to start for the British and Irish Lions in their second Test against South Africa in Cape Town this Saturday.
Both The Times and The Telegraph have revealed that the English loosehead will start with other changes also mooted.
Vunipola came off the bench during the 22-17 victory in the first Test at the weekend, making a huge impact as the Lions got on top in the scrum, where he's been doubted before.
Gatland officially names his Lions Test team on Tuesday, July 27, at 10am (UK time).
Check out the leaked XV below:
CONFIRMED BRITISH & IRISH LIONS XV:
BACK-THREE:
- 15. Stuart Hogg (Scotland)
- 14. Anthony Watson (England)
- 11. Duhan van de Merwe (Scotland)
CENTRES:
- 13. Chris Harris (Scotland)
for Elliot Daly (England)
- 12. Robbie Henshaw (Ireland)
HALFBACKS:
- 10. Dan Biggar (Wales)
- 9. Conor Murray (Ireland) for Ali Price (Scotland)
FRONT-ROW:
- 1. Mako Vunipola (England) for Rory Sutherland (Scotland)
- 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (England)
- 3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)
SECOND-ROW:
- 4. Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)
- 5. Maro Itoje (England)
BACK-ROW:
- 6. Courtney Lawes (England)
- 7. Tom Curry (England)
- 8. Jack Conan Ireland)
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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