The Lions have called up four Welsh players to bolster their squad ahead the final warm-up match before the first Test with the All Blacks.
Prop Tomas Francis, hooker Kristian Dacey, lock Cory Hill and scrum-half Gareth Davies have all been called up to the Lions squad by head coach Warren Gatland, who wants to rest his Test 23 ahead of next weekend’s opening encounter with the New Zealand.
Warren Gatland has called up Kristian Dacey, Gareth Davies, Tomas Francis and Cory Hill has injury replacements for the Lions. Discuss…. pic.twitter.com/b6CzXh7MlL
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Commenting on the Welsh call-ups, Gatland said: “We have said all along we need to give ourselves the best chance of winning the Test series and that could potentially involve calling up players.
“Bringing in these players from an identical time zone, who can hit the ground running and step straight in rather than having to adjust following long-haul travel will help us manage players before the first Test, give us quality training numbers to prepare properly as well as offering us options for selection for the Chiefs match.
“These are players currently on international duty who we are looking forward to welcoming into the Tour party as we did with several players in 2013.
“I spoke to all the Home Union coaches prior to departure and explained our thinking and they were all supportive.”