Alun Wyn Jones will earn his tenth-successive Test cap for The British & Irish Lions after being named captain by Warren Gatland for the series opener against the Springboks.
Tour captain Jones will skipper the Lions having recovered from a dislocated shoulder sustained in the tourists 28-10 win over Japan at Murrayfield Stadium just 24 days ago.
In doing so, the Welsh lock will join an illustrious list of Lions legends to have made 10 Test appearances or more, including Gareth Edwards (10), Graham Price (12), Mike Gibson (12) Dickie Jeeps (13) and Willie-John McBride (17).
Alun Wyn Jones returns to British & Irish Lions Tour
Jones, who is the first to play 10 Tests for the famous touring side in the professional era, will be joined in the second row by Maro Itoje, who claims his fourth-successive Lions Test cap.
Elsewhere, Wales prop Wyn Jones and England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie will earn their first Test caps alongside Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong in the front row.
England flanker Courtney Lawes packs down on the blind side flank to win his third Lions Test cap, having won his previous two from the bench in the second and third Tests in New Zealand in 2017.
Lawes is joined in the back row by England teammate Tom Curry, who is named on the open side, while Ireland No.8 Jack Conan completes the pack as he makes his Lions Test debut.
After impressing against the DHL Stormers last Saturday, Scotland scrum-half Ali Price joins No.10 Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) in the half back berths.
Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw, who made his comeback from a hamstring injury last weekend against the Stormer, partners England’s Elliot Daly in midfield.
Lions breeze past Stormers in final warm-up match
Anthony Watson wins his fourth Lions Test cap as he takes his spot on the wing opposite Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe, with fellow international teammate Stuart Hogg rounding off the side at fullback.
The starting XV includes three Scots for the first time since the 1997 Tour to South Africa when current Lions assistant coach, Gregor Townsend, was named alongside Alan Tait and Tom Smith for the first and second Tests.
“In my four Tours as a Lions coach, this was by far the hardest Test selection I have been involved in,” said Gatland.
“We couldn’t have asked for more from the players so far; they’ve all put their hands up and made picking a starting XV incredibly difficult. In truth, we would have been happy with any number of different combinations across the 23, however, we’re very pleased with the side we’ve settled on.
“We know what we’re coming up against on Saturday. It’s going to be an arm wrestle, there’s no doubt about it. We’ll need to front up physically and be ready to go from the first whistle. When we played SA ‘A’ last week we probably took a bit too long to get into the game, something we can’t afford to do that again this weekend.
“We need to make sure we play in the right areas of the field, not give them easy territory and take our chances when they come.
“While the stands will be empty in Cape Town Stadium, we know Lions fans from across the home nations will be cheering us on back home. We’ll do our best to get the win.”
The much-anticipated clash against the reigning World Champions is the first of three Tests matches in the Castle Lager Lions Series to be shown live and exclusively on Sky Sports.
SOUTH AFRICA v THE BRITISH & IRISH LIONS Saturday 24 July 2021 Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town Kick-off: 5pm (BST)
15. Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland) #783 14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England) #816 13. Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) #822 12. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #824 11. Duhan van der Merwe (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #841 10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales) #821 9. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) #843 1. Wyn Jones (Scarlets, Wales) #842 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England) #851 3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #818 4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, England) #825 5. Alun Wyn Jones – captain (Ospreys, Wales) #761 6. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, England) #826 7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England) #853 8. Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #839
Replacements:
16. Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales) #829 17. Rory Sutherland (Worcester Warriors, Scotland) #840 18. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, England) #814 19. Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #838 20. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland) #847 21. Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland) #790 22. Owen Farrell (Saracens, England) #780 23. Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales) #833
