Tadhg Beirne named captain for Lions' final pre-Test runout
The Munster man, who led the team to an unconvincing 21-10 over a dogged New South Wales Waratahs side last week, will partner James Ryan in an all-Irish second row, with Tour captain Maro Itoje afforded a rest in the final outing before taking on the Wallabies in the opening Test Saturday week.
Hugo Keenan will get a chance to put his hand up for Test selection after being given the number 15 jersey for the game at the Adelaide Oval.
The Leinster man was another who struggled to make an impression against the Waratahs, but with Blair Kinghorn limping off against the Brumbies, it affords the 29-year-old an opportunity to put pressure on Andy Farrell and the management team.
Mack Hansen is the other Irish starter, with Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe completing the back three.
Ben White and Fin Smith will link up at half-back with Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones in midfield.
Up front, Pierre Schoeman, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Will Stuart will pack down against what promises to be the most difficult assignment of the tour to date.
The backrow sees English pair Henry Pollock and Ben Earl sandwiched between the sole Welsh started in Jac Morgan.
There is a strong Irish feel to the replacements, with Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and Finlay Bealham offering back-up in the front row, with flanker Josh van der Flier also included. Scott Cummings, Alex Mitchell, Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell will cover the backline positions.
The 33-year-old Saracens out-half, who was drafted into the squad by his father and head coach Andy after Elliot Daly's arm injury against Queensland Reds, will also be hoping to force his way into Test plans.
Lions: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe; Fin Smith, Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Will Stuart; James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Henry Pollock, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl.
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Irish Examiner
37 minutes ago
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Waterford were coming and they had nothing to lose. So we didn't forensically go through it. 'That was a great thing about Pat. We left Limerick and Pat knew what we had to do. We didn't go wide. We went quite narrow.' So, when the group reassembled in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on the Monday after the Sunday before for their customary gym session, this time they dispensed with the subsequent standard video review. 'There was a simple graph put up and it told the story in terms of turnovers. There's a number of things we look at it, such as around the puckout. And in terms of turnovers, that was down for us in that Limerick game. It was clear we weren't at it.' By 'we', Coleman meant more than the players. Ryan's management felt they had failed to get the players to the required pitch of the game. Over the course of convincingly winning the league and getting a result in their opening two championship games, the longest layoff Cork had was just a fortnight. 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