Preview: Provincial Barbarians v B&I Lions
It's finally here. Still fighting off jet-lag and adjusting to 'home' for the next six weeks, the Lions get going on Saturday in Whangarei.
Make no mistake, the Lions preparation time for Saturday's opening game has not been ideal considering they landed in Auckland on Wednesday morning, but any concerns over that travel fatigue have been dampened down by the strength of the side named by Warren Gatland.
Sam Warburton spoke about itching to get going on tour in the Lions' first press conference on Kiwi soil and gets his wish, and this first hit-out will be of vital importance for both the Lions captain and an important lieutenant in Alun Wyn Jones, with both short of match fitness.
All three Scots in the 41-man group have been selected, as are both Harlequins props, and there is an air of familiarity in having an all-Welsh back row, an England centre combination and Tommy Seymour and Stuart Hogg, team-mates for club and country, bunched together in the back three.
Unsurprisingly none of those players involved in last weekend's Premiership and PRO12 finals are involved, with only Johnny Sexton in the starting XV from the domestic semi-finals, in a bid to allow for maximum recovery time.
Perhaps the most excitement has been reserved for the Lions bench, featuring four Saracens who could all start in the Test series in Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, George Kruis and Owen Farrell.
If the Provincial Barbarians are able to keep the contest tight going into the second, then even with having spent close to 24 hours on a plane, the quality of those replacements should be enough to seal the deal.
Opening games on Lions tours are always treated with trepidation given the limited prepartion time and travel factor, and while 2013's first match was an emphatic 69-17 win over the Force in Perth, there have also been wobbles; the 37-25 win over a 'Royal XV' in South Africa in 2009, wearing down Bay of Plenty in 2005.
A repeat of the 114-10 win over Western Australia in 2001 seems unlikely and followers of New Zealand rugby and Sevens will recognise the name of Sam Vaka, who along with former Chiefs midfielder Dwayne Sweeney and Waikato's try-scoring sensation Sevu Reece all make up a competent back-line.
Lachlan Boshier, part of the Chiefs squad, and of course Blues fly-half Bryn Gatland, son of Lions head coach Warren, will need to be paid close attention also.
Players to Watch
For Provincial Barbarians: Highly regarded by Canterbury, Irish prop Oliver Jager will get the chance to take on his country's captain Rory Best when the two face off in the scrum. London-born and educated at the famous Blackrock College in Dublin, whose alumni include Lions legends Brian O'Driscoll and Fergus Slattery, Jager is part of the Crusaders' squad this season and will be understandably be out to make an impression. His Crusaders and former Canterbury coach, Scott Robertson, has suggested he could play for the All Blacks.
For British and Irish Lions: Earning a first chance to make the number eight shirt his own is Taulupe Faletau, who despite the protests of even the most one-eyed of Welsh supporters was considered second choice for the position behind Billy Vunipola until his decision to withdraw. Faletau's form pleasingly returned towards the end of the season with Bath but it was easily his toughest campaign since bursting onto the scene at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Widely hailed for his engine, Gatland will be looking for plenty of energy.
Head-to-head: The battle between the two number tens sticks out. Bryn Gatland's work with North Harbour, including a promotion to the Mitre 10 Premiership, earned him a couple of appearances off the bench for the Blues this season behind Piers Francis, a recent England call-up. Obviously this is not any normal game for the 22-year-old – it is a hell of a story – and he will find himself under the spotlight more than he has become used to so far in his career. That said, do well on Saturday and the Blues will be pushed to take another look.
He comes up against a Test veteran in Johnny Sexton who produced one of more bizarre performances for some time in the semi-final defeat for Leinster to the Scarlets. Given what the Welsh region achieved the following week in the PRO12 final, Sexton's off-colour outing is understandable, but there is pressure for the starting ten spot with Owen Farrell waiting on the bench and no confirmation yet from (Warren) Gatland whether he will commit to two playmakers at 10 and 12.
Prediction: Even in the jet-lag and getting to know each other stage of the tour, the Lions should have too much ability here to be troubled, particularly with those reinforcements from 16 to 23. Lions to win by 30.
Provincial Barbarians: 15 Luteru Laulala (Counties Manukau), 14 Sam Vaka (Counties Manukau), 13 Inga Finau (Canterbury), 12 Dwayne Sweeney (Waikato), 11 Sevu Reece (Waikato), 10 Bryn Gatland (North Harbour), 9 Jack Stratton (Canterbury), 8 Mitchell Dunshea (Canterbury), 7 Lachlan Boshier (Taranaki), 6 James Tucker (Waikato), 5 Keepa Mewett (Bay of Plenty), 4 Josh Goodhue (Northland), 3 Oliver Jager (Canterbury), 2 Sam Anderson-Heather (c) (Otago), 1 Aidan Ross (Bay of Plenty)
Replacements: 16 Andrew Makalio (Tasman), 17 Tolu Fahamokioa (Wellington), 18 Marcel Renata (Auckland), 19 Matt Matich (Northland), 20 Peter Rowe (Wanganui), 21 Richard Judd (Bay of Plenty), 22 Jonah Lowe (Hawke’s Bay), 23 Junior Ngaluafe (Southland)
British and Irish Lions: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Rory Best, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Tadgh Furlong, 19 George Kruis, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Elliot Daly
Date: Saturday, June 3
Venue: Toll Stadium, Whangarei
Kick-off: 19:35 local (07:35 GMT)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO: Aaron Paterson (New Zealand)