Roar Guru
The 2013 British and Irish Lions team are ready to set foot on Australian soil for the first time since 2001, but first they take on the Barbarians in Hong Kong. We’ll have live scores and commentary from 9.30pm AEST.
The first game of the tour should be a cracker, with both squads only having been training together for a few weeks, we should get a real taste of what the Lions will bring to Australian shores.
On Thursday the Lions selected their lineup for the Barbarians fixture, with 17 players making their Lions debut.
Coach Warren Gatland has given Owen Farrell first look at flyhalf in front of Ireland’s Jonny Sexton, while former Crusaders winger Sean Maitland will also start, less than a year after finishing up with the Super Rugby franchise.
Gatland is expected to make full use of his bench tonight, with a forecast of 29-degrees and 90 percent humidity predicted in Hong Kong.
The Barbarians were led by Mike Tindall at Twickenham last weekend, where they were roundly hammered 40-12 by an England side devoid of a host of players already on Lions duty.
They were heavily criticised by former Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward, who questioned the quality of the Barbarians side.
He labelled tonight’s fixture a “sidestep” and suggested that it would do “absolutely nothing” to help the Lions in their preparations for the three-Test series against the Wallabies.
Tonight the likes of Schalk Brits, Dean Mumm, Joe Rokocoko and Dmitri Yachvili will all come into the starting XV, who will be led by Italian number eight Sergio Parisse.
Though they have still not had long together, expect more assured, running rugby as the experienced members of the Barbarians step up tonight for the Barbarians.
I’m backing the Lions to get the tour underway with a solid win over the Babas in what promises to be a fantastic showcase of rugby. We’ll have live scores and commentary from 9.30pm AEST.