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Tour captain Sam Warburton is jumping out of his skin to make his British and Irish Lions debut on Saturday night in their toughest pre-Test challenge against Queensland at Suncorp Stadium.
Warburton will start at openside flanker after overcoming a knee injury which forced him to miss the opening two lop-sided wins over the Barbarians in Hong Kong and Western Force in Perth.
The 24-year-old skipper will be joined by compatriots Toby Faletau and Dan Lydiate in an-all Welsh back-row trying to play its way into first Test selection against the Wallabies on June 22.
Fittingly, his debut will see Warburton become the 800th player to represent the Lions in their 125-year history.
“For me I’ve been thinking about this game for quite a while, it can’t come quick enough, and I’m desperate to get out on the pitch,” he said on Thursday night.
“It’s been tough to watch the last two games knowing the players have got their jerseys in their kit bags to take home with them and I haven’t got one yet.
“It’s been the best three weeks of my rugby career since we’ve got together. I’ve absolutely loved it even though I haven’t played.”
Warburton admitted he needed to hit the ground running to shore up a Test spot following outstanding performances by Justin Tipuric and Sean O’Brien in the No.7 jersey thus far.
“All the back-rowers have done exceptionally well which makes selection very difficult,” he said.
Warburton will be one of six players to make their run-on tour debuts against the Reds with prop Gethin Jenkins, English brothers tom and Ben Youngs, prop Matt Stevens and lock Geoff Parling all getting their first starting chance.
English centre Manu Tuilagi is the only player backing up from starting Wednesday night’s win over the Force to move to outside centre against Queensland, with Welshman Jonathan Davies playing inside centre.
Young five-eighth Owen Farrell, who disappointed against the Barbarians, will team with Ben Youngs in an English halves pairing.
The Reds have promised the Lions a fair-dinkum challenge after they crossed for 17 tries in total in their 59-8 and 69-17 victories over the Barbarians and Force, respectively.
In contrast to the Force’s controversial move to name a weakened outfit, Queensland coaching boss Ewen McKenzie picked the strongest side available to him for the Suncorp Stadium clash.
The home side will be missing six Test big-guns but will still feature 12 capped Wallabies, including enigmatic five-eighth Quade Cooper.
“(Cooper) is an outstanding player with great footwork and I’m sure he’ll pose a different threat at 10 than what we’ve faced in the last two weeks,” Warburton said.
“He’ll definitely be an attacking threat and that’s what you want to test your defence.”
Irish prop Cian Healy will face a judicial hearing for a biting charge on Friday morning but his tour already looks over due to a serious ankle injury.
Lions: Stuart Hogg, Alex Cuthbert, Manu Tuilagi, Jonathan Davies, Tommy Bowe, Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Toby Faletau, Sam Warburton (capt), Dan Lydiate, Geoff Parling, Richie Gray, Matt Stevens, Tom Youngs, Gethin Jenkins. Res: Richard Hibbard, Mako Vunipola, Adam Jones, Paul O’Connell, Justin Tipuric, Conor Murray, Jonny Sexton, George North.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.