Paul O'Connell will lead the Lions in the opening game of their South Africa tour, against a Royal XV in Rustenburg on Saturday. The captain is the only Irish forward in a pack that is otherwise made up of players from Wales and England.

The Lions intend to make 15 changes for next Wednesday's fixture against the Golden Lions. The Super 14 side yesterday sacked their coach but they will offer far sterner opposition than the largely part-time outfit the tourists will face in Rustenburg.

"Our focus has to be on ourselves, not the opposition," said the Lions' head coach, Ian McGeechan. "We do not know much about the side we are facing on ­Saturday because we have spent the 10 days we have spent together working on new combinations and getting players from four different countries to gel as quickly as possible.

"The beauty of coaching the Lions is that you do not know how things will work out until the matches start. It is the way players bring things out of each other and develop special relationships that makes the Lions unique. What we have done for Saturday is put together combinations that have not played together before."

The exception is the back three which, while being made up of players from Ireland and Wales, is an Ospreys' production. The centres, half-backs, front row, second row and back row are unfamiliar.

Ronan O'Gara will partner Mike Blair at half-back, with the latter the only Scotsman in a side that is otherwise made up of seven players from Wales, four from Ireland and three from England.

"I have never played in a side with any of the other players in the 22," Blair said, "but I am not a Scotsman on this trip. We are all Lions and we have all worked hard in training to ensure that we start strongly. The success of this tour will depend on how quickly guys from four nations can make it look as if we have known each other for years."

The Munster centre Keith Earls, the youngest member of the squad, at least until Wales's Leigh Halfpenny arrives next week after receiving treatment in Cardiff for a thigh injury, partners Wales's Jamie Roberts in the midfield.

Andrew Sheridan packs down in the front row with Wales's Matthew Rees and Adam Jones, Simon Shaw partners O'Connell in the second row and in the back row Joe Worsley will combine with the Welshmen Martyn Williams and Andy Powell.

"We want to play with skill and flair," said McGeechan, who did not consider players who were involved in last week's European finals. "But we also know that we are going to have to be strong up front. We have got to get that side of the game right. Physicality is going to be very important. I have spent the last 12 months planning for this moment and I am always nervous at this stage, but I am also excited."

The South Africa coach, Pieter de Villiers, said yesterday that the 2009 Lions could not be compared to their successful 1974 counterparts and that they would never secure the legendary status of their predecessors. The tour manager, Gerald Davies, dismissed the slight.

"History is not important," he said. "It is the future that counts. Now is not the time to judge the current Lions. They are all very talented and gifted players, but it is how they blend together as a team that is important. They do not have to look over their shoulder to see what happened in the past: the challenge for them is to make their own history."

O'Connell said he was not concerned by De Villiers' remarks.

"The success of the 1974 tour made those players legends," he said. "If we can win the Test series, it would be the ultimate in all our careers. We have put a lot in every training session, but we all want the first match to start."

The Royal XV coach, Chaka Willemse, said he expected the Lions to be looking for an arm wrestle.

"I know the only way they feel they can be successful in South Africa is to win the battle up front," he said. "We'll be ready for them, but we are not going to be sucked into playing a forward game.

"They've got some big guys in the pack and we will be looking to move them around the field as much as we can; maybe we can tire them out."