It’s hard to imagine what it going through the British and Irish Lions’ minds on their eve of their first Test. For the majority of the team, this will be their first Lions Test cap.
Despite this the Lions trump the Australians if you measure experience in Test caps with 770 between them to their opponents 519.
Four-time tourist Brian O’Driscoll talked about the togetherness of this year’s squad. This will be key tomorrow this starting XV have never played a match together before. However last week against the Waratahs we got a glimpse of the combinations Gatland was going for and they worked.
Jonathan Davies and Tom Croft sat out training today but what’s the point in risking them at this stage if their muscles are tight or they have a sore toe? They’ve both already shown what they can do on the pitch and to see Davies play inside O’Driscoll is a particularly exciting prospect.
The Wallabies have fought with the Lions for the underdog tag and claimed that without a warm-up match they are at a disadvantage. But their captain James Horwill has said that this is a once in a career opportunity and they are out to take the series.
The last time the Lions played the Wallabies they won the first test in Brisbane but followed that up with consecutive defeats in Melbourne and Sydney.
Match start time: 8.05 pm local time (11.05am BST) at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Lions danger man: Leigh Halfpenny. His accuracy with the boot means he can keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Wallabies danger man: Will Genia. Widely regarded as the best scrum half in the world and the lynchpin for the Australian side in the absence of David Pocock.
Weather conditions: Dry with lows of nine degrees Celsius
MSN score prediction: Lions to win by 12 points
Wallabies starting XV:
15 Berrick Barnes, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Leali’ifano, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Will Genia; 1 Benn Robinson, 2 Stephen Moore, 3 Ben Alexander, 4 Kane Douglas, 5 James Horwill, 6 Ben Mowen, 7 Michael Hooper, 8 Wycliff Palu
Replacements:16 Saia Fainga’a, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Pat McCabe, 23 Kurtley Beale
British & Irish Lions starting XV: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Brian O’Driscoll, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 George North, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Mike Phillips; 1 Alex Corbisiero, 2 Tom Youngs, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Alun-Wyn Jones, 5 Paul O’Connell, 6 Tom Croft, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 8 Jamie Heaslip
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Geoff Parling, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Sean Maitland