Sam Warburton to captain British and Irish Lions in tour opener

When the British and Irish Lions have their backs against the wall in their three-Test series against the All Blacks, they can turn to their captain, Sam Warburton, for inspiration even if it doesn’t come out of his mouth, says Taulupe Faletau. The Lions match is expected to pump up to $7m into the Whangarei economy.

Henry, who returned to New Zealand and went on to guide the All Blacks to Rugby World Cup victory in 2011, has recently said he believes he was not sufficiently experienced or prepared to coach the Lions when he took the job in 2001 after a successful tenure as head coach of Wales. We were in New Zealand for over three months and played 26 games.

But that works both ways as the Lions won’t want to risk starting any of their Test lineup, and while some will have to pull bench duty you’d think they’ll only get game time if absolutely necessary.

Warburton will be joined by global teammates Taulupe Faletau and Ross Moriarty, to cap an all-Welsh back row. Joe Marler, Best and Kyle Sinckler combine in the front row, and Alan Wyn Jones and Ian Henderson are the locks.

Veterans Greg Laidlaw and Johnny Sexton will pair at half back.

Interestingly the boys met for the first time together only at dinner last Saturday but true to the Barbarians tradition; intend to play an expansive running game.

Ben Te’o, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson add an England flavour to a backline also including Scots Seymour and full-back Hogg. “There’s no doubt that it’s important that we get the tour off to a good start”.

Although a bench picked from a squad of 41 internationals should always be strong, the one selected by Gatland looks to have extra oomph.

The maximum provincial union retainer is $55,000, with the exception of two veteran players per union who can receive up to $85,000.

Teammate, Otago’s Sam Anderson-Heather, detailed the gruelling routines he and his peers have faced in order to earn selection. Warren Gatland’s son, Bryn Gatland, will pull the strings from fly-half for the Barbarians.

The 22-year-old is also a possible starter for the Blues when they take on the tourists at Eden Park next week. Jager grew up in Ireland and is on the books with Super Rigby franchise, Crusaders.

Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, Tadhg Furlong, George Kruis, Justin Tipuric, Rhys Webb, Owen Farrell and Jared Payne make up the reserves.

Results from previous Lions tours, however, have shown that few of the provincial sides the visitors have faced are easy to overcome and Barbarians coach Clayton McMillan felt all the pressure was Warren Gatland’s side. The closest the Lions will get will be the 2 seconds after kick off when it is still 0-0.