Lions Team to Face Cheetahs

British & Irish Lions Tour Manager, Gerald Davies, and Head Coach Ian McGeechan, today announced the Lions team for the third match of the 2009 tour of South Africa. The selected team will play the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday and will be led by Captain Paul O’Connell.

Davies said, “The starting XV to play the Cheetahs is an interesting one with club and country combinations in many areas. The boys who played against the Golden Lions put down a marker in terms of the way we want to play and I know those playing against the Cheetahs will be very keen to keep the momentum going and produce another strong Lions performance.”

Commenting on the team selection Head Coach Ian McGeechan said, “With the selection of Donncha O’Callaghan, Leigh Halfpenny and Luke Fitzgerald in the starting XV it means that all the squad players will have taken to the field according to plan. We also have new arrival Gordon D’Arcy on the bench which gives him a chance to get straight into the action.”

“Although there are no players backing up from the starting XV against the Golden Lions several of the replacements who saw action in that match have now been selected for their first start. For the Cheetahs match Andy Powell, Stephen Ferris, Euan Murray, Ross Ford, Harry Ellis and James Hook are all in the starting XV team for the first time.”

“The team includes an all Welsh back three, an Irish combination in midfield and a Munster second row pairing. We are also are continuing to build partnerships and combinations among the players from the four nations and this is reflected in the front row where Scottish team-mates Euan Murray and Ross Ford will pack down in the front row alongside Andrew Sheridan, and the backrow where three players from three different nations will play alongside each other.”

British & Irish Lions Team versus Cheetahs on Saturday 6th June

15. Lee Byrne (Ospreys/Wales)
14. Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues/Wales)
13. Keith Earls (Munster/Ireland)
12. Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster/Ireland)
11. Shane Williams (Ospreys/Wales)
10. James Hook (Ospreys/Wales)
9. Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers/England)
8. Andy Powell (Cardiff Blues/Wales)
7. Joe Worsley (London Wasps/England)
6. Stephen Ferris (Ulster/Ireland)
5. Paul O’Connell (Munster/Ireland) captain
4. Donncha O’Callaghan (Munster/Ireland)
3. Euan Murray (Northampton Saints/Scotland)
2. Ross Ford (Edinburgh/Scotland)
1. Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks/England)

Replacements:
16. Matthew Rees (Scarlets/Wales)
17. Adam Jones (Ospreys/Wales)
18. Simon Shaw (London Wasps/England)
19. Nathan Hines (Perpignan/Scotland)
20. Mike Blair (Edinburgh/Scotland)
21. Ronan O’Gara (Munster/Ireland)
22. Gordon D’Arcy (Leinster/Ireland)