The Lions' head coach, Ian McGeechan, was today true to his word that every member of his squad would start at least one of the three opening games on the tour. Nine players will start for the first time in the red jersey tomorrow, as the tourists face the Free State Cheetahs at the Vodacom Stadium in Bloemfontein.
The Ireland centre Gordon D'Arcy, who only joined the squad yesterday, will be on the bench after it was decided it would have been pushing it to start him 48 hours after his arrival in South Africa.
"The only way you will have proper competition for places is if you pick players in their best positions early on rather than use them off the bench," said McGeechan. "One of the reasons we said that we wanted to take only fit players on tour was that we wanted them all to have the opportunity of a start.
"It is essential that they all feel in with a shout of making the side for the first Test and by using them all in the opening matches they will appreciate that is the case. We are one team and everyone knows that."
Luke Fitzgerald – who partners another Irishman, Keith Earls, in a youthful midfield pairing – the second-row Donncha O'Callaghan and the wing Leigh Halfpenny, who arrived in South Africa on Tuesday after remaining in Wales for treatment on a thigh injury, make their first appearances of the tour.
The only players not considered were the centre Riki Flutey, who is expected to be fit for selection next week after suffering a leg injury in the opening match, against a Royal XV in Rustenburg last week, and the open-side flanker Martyn Williams, who took a knock on the shoulder in training yesterday.
"We are expecting one of our toughest games of the tour outside the Tests," said McGeechan. "[The Cheetahs] finished the Super 14 strongly and our players have something to follow after Wednesday's victory over the Golden Lions. We will select the side for the first Test on the basis of what we have seen – how the players have evolved in the Lions jersey. It is a big challenge for us as a coaching team and we will leave some of the decisions until very late."
The Lions' back division blends the experience of Lee Byrne, Shane Williams and Harry Ellis with four players who are under the age of 23: James Hook, who plays in his favoured position of outside-half, Fitzgerald, Earls, who gets the chance to make up for his jittery opener in Rustenburg, and Halfpenny.
Hook would have been playing at outside-centre for Wales against the United States in Chicago tomorrow, but for his call-up two days before the squad left for Johannesburg, after Halfpenny's initial absence left the Lions short of goal-kickers.
"I knew after Wednesday night that I would be starting on Saturday and it was a huge thrill‚" said Hook, who scored a try after coming on as a replacement against the Golden Lions. "We are all aware that a pretty good display will not be enough after the way the boys performed in the week and we are all going to have to be at our maximum.
"That is how you want it as a player, but we must not fall into the trap of trying to impress and being too individual. We have to remain within the team structure and it is another exciting side that we are putting out."
The tourists have gone for size up front against the weakest scrummaging side in the Super 14. Two very big props, Andrew Sheridan and Euan Murray, will pack down with the hooker Ross Ford, O'Callaghan joins his Munster and Ireland colleague Paul O'Connell in the second row and Stephen Ferris, Andy Powell and Joe Worsley form the back row.
Worsley will operate at open-side flanker but the Lions will have no cover in the position, despite one of the best breakaways in South Africa, Heinrich Brussow, playing for the Cheetahs. Two second-rows, Simon Shaw and Nathan Hines, are on the Lions bench.
"I played at No7 for England in the Six Nations and I am comfortable there," said Worsley. "We have watched a lot of the Cheetahs and they have a strong back row. Those of us who started in the first match know that we have a lot to do after Wednesday's victory.
"We did not play well in Rustenburg, but there were mitigating factors. We had had a hard training week, we had done a lot of travelling, it was my first game for a month and we were playing at altitude. I was like a zombie at the end of the game, so tired I could hardly walk, but we have all acclimatised now and we need to perform."
