British & Irish Lions v Queensland Reds (Saturday, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane) 15. Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland)
14. Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues/Wales) 13. Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers/England) 12. Jonathan Davies (Scarlets/Wales)
11. Tommy Bowe (Ulster/Ireland) 10. Owen Farrell (Saracens/England) 9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers/England)
1. Makovina Vunipola (Saracens/England) 2. Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers/England) 3. Matt Stevens (Saracens/England)
4. Richie Gray (Scotland) 5. Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers/England) 6. Dan Lydiate (Dragons/Wales)
7. Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues/Wales) 8. Tangaki Taulupe Faletau (Dragons/Wales) Replacements 16. Richard Hibbard (Ospreys/Wales)
17. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers/England) 18. Adam Jones (Ospreys/Wales) 19. Paul O’Connell (Munster/Ireland) 20. Justin Tipuric (Ospreys/Wales)
21. Conor Murray (Munster/Ireland) 22. Jonathan Sexton (Leinster/Ireland) 23. George North (Scarlets/Wales)
Game three on the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour is likely to be the final round of experimentation by Warren Gatland. After Saturday, the Test team combinations will come to the fore as the countdown to the series against the Qantas Wallabies begins in earnest.
Staying true to his word to give every player a start in the opening three matches, Gatland has finally been able to give his tour captain Sam Warburton a game and has also handed first starts on tour to the Youngs brothers, Tom and Ben, Matt Stevens and Geoff Parling.
“Its nice for everyone to get a start and the only one who hasn’t started now is Rob Kearney. It was only precautionary for Sam not to play up to now and it is a big game for him and the team,” said head coach Gatland. I think the Reds will be a little big stronger than the Force, although they have still got a number of key players missing.”
Even so, Ewen McKenzie’s side will have 12 Qantas Wallabies in their matchday 23 and will go into the game with absolutely nothing to lose. They have a great record at Suncorp Stadium where they have lost only once a season for the past three years and they have a number of players who will have points to prove to on-looking Wallaby coach Robbie Deans…… CLICK HERE for the full story
