Jones leads, North starts for Lions

Three times tourist Alun Wyn Jones will lead the British and Irish Lions into their third tour match against the Crusaders at AMI Stadium.

Wales skipper Jones captained the Lions in the third Test in Australia in 2013 as well as playing in all the Tests in South Africa in 2009.

And the centurian capped second row will bring all his experience to a starting line-up which sees Jonathan Davies, George North and Sean O’Brien start their first tour games.

Head Coach Warren Gatland said: “The aim was always to start everyone in the first three matches and this selection ensures that we achieve this.

“This is an experienced team with nine of the starting 15 players having featured in 2013.

“Our squad is working hard and we are seeing improvement in their performances both at training and in the games.

“Last night’s results against the Blues was disappointing and we know we can’t afford to give away so many penalties.

“We are looking forward to the clash against the Crusaders and we expect a tough game against the most successful team in Super Rugby history.”

British and Irish Lions: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 George Kruis, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Johnny Sexton, 23 Anthony Watson

Date: Saturday, June 10
Venue: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Kick-off: 19:35 local (07:35 GMT)
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Pascal Gauzère (France)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)