For South Africa’s analysts it will feel like doing battle with an army of unknown warriors for Saturday’s first Test
The secret of top-level selection is to heighten the sense of pre-game anticipation. If the team sheet can not only energise your own players but also make the opposition feel faintly uneasy, so much the better. Warren Gatland has ticked both those boxes; now we must wait and see whether it will trick the Boks.
South Africa will certainly be scanning Gatland’s selection warily. Not since Jason Robinson skipped thrillingly around Australia’s Chris Latham at the Gabba exactly 20 years ago has a Lions side looked better equipped to make a more proactive start to a series. Gatland has been bold – eye-catchingly so in some cases – and has put together a team that looks specifically primed to take the game to their hosts.
Related: Alun Wyn Jones to captain Lions in first Test after remarkable recovery
Dropping O'Driscoll for third Test (2013)
South Africa: W Le Roux; C Kolbe, L Am, D De Allende, M Mapimpi; H Pollard, F De Klerk; O Nché, B Mbonambi, T Nyakane, E Etzebeth, F Mostert, S Kolisi (c), P-S du Toit, K Smith.Replacements: M Marx, S Kitshoff, F Malherbe, L De Jager, R Elstadt, H Jantjies, E Jantjies, D Willemse.-
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