Lions face heat and Barbarians in tour opener

HONG KONG (Reuters): After six months’ planning and three weeks’ training, Coach Warren Gatland finally begins his British and Irish Lions adventure in earnest on Saturday with what should be a gentle opening match against the Barbarians to open the 125th anniversary tour.

Ahead of three tests and six provincial games in Australia, the Lions are making their first appearance in Hong Kong, where the city’s intense heat and humidity will play a key factor.

Gatland, whose selection options were severely limited by the late arrival of more than a dozen players involved in domestic cup finals last weekend, will be anxious to see how the new combinations gel but is more concerned about getting the tour off to a successful start.

“I don’t really care about style as long as we win, to be honest,” he told a news conference on Thursday. That should not be a problem, despite the Lions’ limited preparation time, particularly if the Barbarians offer as little resistance as they did in last Sunday’s 40—12 defeat by a fledgling England selection at Twickenham.

Only four starters remain, however, from that team and, with Italian Sergio Parisse captaining a far stronger-looking side from number eight, the Lions will have to work hard for their points and concentrate on their newly-learned defensive patterns.

“We are not going to shy away from the fact that we all felt let down afterwards,” Barbarians coach and former Lions prop Dai Young said. “We didn’t play anything like we expected and we know we are going to have to be a lot better.”

An indication of how seriously the Barbarians are taking the game is the news that the players have agreed to an alcohol ban until after the match. In the absence of Captain Sam Warburton, who is nursing a knee injury, Irish lock Paul O’Connell, Captain in South Africa four years ago, will again lead the Lions. Three of Warburton’s Welsh compatriots will fill the back row, with another six players from the Six Nations champions in the starting XV.

“Obviously I’m disappointed for Sam but there’s no better man to captain the side than Paul O’Connell,” Dan Lydiate said, who will play, on blindside flank on Saturday. Owen Farrell will start at flyhalf, outside Mike Phillips, one of the stand-out performers of the 2009 tour.

All three Scots in the touring party get an early opportunity to impress, with Stuart Hogg at fullback, Sean Maitland on the left wing and Richie Gray in the second row. Temperatures are expected to hit 33 degrees Celsius, with relative humidity in the 65% to 90% range on Saturday, according to the Hong Kong observatory.

“We’re getting used to it already,” O’Connell said of the heat and humidity. “It’s never as bad as you think it’s going to be. We both have to deal with it and hopefully we can deal with it better than they can.”

Teams:

Lions: 15-Stuart Hogg, 14-Alex Cuthbert 13-Jonathan Davies, 12-Jamie Roberts, 11-Sean Maitland, 10-Owen Farrell, 9-Mike Phillips; 8-Toby Faletau, 7-Justin Tipuric, 6-Dan Lydiate, 5-Paul O’Connell (Captain), 4-Richie Gray, 3-Adam Jones, 2-Richard Hibbard and 1-Mako Vunipola.

Replacements: 16-Tom Youngs, 17-Cian Healey, 18-Matt Stevens, 19-Alun Wyn-Jones, 20-Jamie Heaslip, 21-Conor Murray, 22-Jonny Sexton and 23-George North.

Barbarians: 15-Jared Payne, 14-Joe Rokocoko, 13-Elliot Daly, 12-Casey Laulala, 11-Takudzwa Ngwenya, 10-Nick Evans, 9-Dimitri Yachvili; 8-Sergio Parisse, 7-Sam Jones, 6-Samu Manoa, 5-Dean Mumm, 4-Marco Wentzel, 3-Martin Castrogiovanni, 2-Schalk Brits and 1-Paul James.

Replacements: 16-Duncan Jones, 17-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 18-Jim Hamilton, 19-Imanol Harinordoquy, 20-Andrea Lo Cicero, 21-Kahn Fotuali’i, 22-James Hook and 23-Mike Tindall.