Lions skipper benched for Maori clash

Tour captain Sam Warburton has been relegated to the bench for the British and Irish Lions' clash against the Maori All Blacks on Saturday, just a week before the first Test.

Munster and Ireland's Peter O'Mahony will take over as captain for a match the tourists regard as an "unofficial fourth Test".

Warburton led the Lions to a disappointing 23-22 loss to the Highlanders midweek and coach Warren Gatland opted instead to hand flanker O'Mahony the skipper's armband.

"Peter is a proven captain with Munster," Gatland said ahead of the match in Rotorua.

"He never takes a backward step and we believe that those leadership qualities will serve us well on Saturday against a quality and determined Maori All Blacks team."

The Irishman is the fourth player to captain the Lions on tour after Warburton, Ken Owens and Alun Wyn Jones.

The tourists are looking to bounce back after their second defeat of the tour and Gatland's selection against the Maori team is expected to be close to his first-choice Test side.

If it is, then losing the Test captaincy would be a huge blow to Warburton, who led the Lions to a series win in Australia in 2013 but has struggled for form recently after a run of injuries.

Gatland has shown previously that he will not shy away from big selection calls, famously dropping Irish legend Brian O'Driscoll for the series decider in 2013 and causing outrage in the Emerald Isle.

He has opted for an all-Irish combination at nine and 10 against the Maori, with Johnny Sexton starting ahead of Owen Farrell at flyhalf and Conor Murray at scrumhalf.

The starting side includes 11 players who started in the Lions' gutsy 12-3 win over the Crusaders, their most impressive display on tour so far.

"We need to play like we did last Saturday against the Crusaders," assistant coach Neil Jenkins said.

"We're a week out from the first Test so Saturday's game against the Maori is huge for us, it's like an unofficial fourth Test match."

Leigh Halfpenny replaces the injured Stuart Hogg at fullback, while Liam Williams makes way for Anthony Watson on the wing.

However lock Wyn Jones, who captained against the Crusaders, did not even make the match-day 23, with Gatland preferring England's Maro Itoje in the second row backed by Iain Henderson on the bench.

Farrell kicked the Lions to victory against the Crusaders but may be paying the price for a late missed penalty against the Highlanders, when a frustrated Gatland said his men "shot ourselves in the foot".

He has made clear that the three-Test series against the All Blacks is the main priority and other tour matches are a means to improve before facing the world champions.

"We were obviously disappointed with the loss against the Highlanders and realise that we need to improve in several areas, including our discipline," Gatland said.

"But we feel that overall we are building well towards the Test matches."

The three-Test series begins on June 24.

Teams:

Maori All Blacks

15 James Lowe, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Liam Messam, 7 Elliot Dixon, 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Tom Franklin, 4 Joe Wheeler, 3 Ben May, 2 Ash Dixon (capttain), 1 Kane Hames

Substitutes: 16 Hikawera Elliot, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Marcel Renata, 19 Leighton Price, 20 Kara Pryor, 21 Bryn Hall, 22 Ihaia West, 23 Rob Thompson

British and Irish Lions

15 Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon/WAL), 14 Anthony Watson (Bath/ENG), 13 Jonathan Davies (Scarlets/WAL), 12 Ben Te'o (Worcester/ENG), 11 George North (Northampton/ENG), 10 Johnny Sexton (Leinster/IRL), 9 Conor Murray (Munster/IRL), 8 Taulupe Faletau (Bath/WAL), 7 Sean O'Brien (Leinster/IRL), 6 Peter O'Mahony (captain - Munster/IRL), 5 George Kruis, Saracens/ENG), 4 Maro Itoje (Saracens/ENG), 3 Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/IRL), 2 Jamie George (Saracens/ENG), 1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens/ENG)

Substitutes: 16 Ken Owens (Scarlets/WAL), 17 Jack McGrath (Leinster/IRL), 18 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins/ENG), 19 Iain Henderson (Ulster/IRL), 20 Sam Warburton (Cardiff/WAL), 21 Greig Laidlaw (Gloucester/SCO), 22 Owen Farrell (Saracens/ENG), 23 Elliot Daly (Wasps/ENG)