O’Mahony was handed leadership duties for Saturday’s clash at the All Blacks’ fortress of Eden Park despite only skippering Ireland three times, relegating tour captain Sam Warburton to the bench.
The injury-hit Warburton has struggled for form in warm-up matches, while O’Mahony’s commitment was impressive as he captained the Lions to a 32-10 win over the Maori All Blacks last week.
Gatland believes that passion, coupled with an attacking intent that the Lions have only showed in glimpses so far, will be needed to topple the back-to-back world champions.
The tourists have won plaudits for their defence in the warm-up matches but New Zealand-born Gatland said that would not be enough at Eden Park, where the All Blacks have not lost for 23 years.
“We’ve picked a team we think are capable of playing some exciting rugby, you’ve got to be prepared to match the All Blacks,” he said.
“We’ve strangled a couple of sides and we’re not going to deny that’s been successful but we’ve also got to have the ability to play.”
Gatland, himself a former All Black, said the players O’Mahony will lead onto the field had to be brave enough to chance their arm in pursuit of victory.
“To beat the All Blacks you have to be courageous and play some rugby - you have to score tries and I think we have picked a team capable of doing that,” he said.
Grim for North
Gatland made only four changes to the starting XV that defeated the Maori, choosing England star Owen Farrell at fly-half over Ireland’s Johnny Sexton.
In line with his commitment to attack, Gatland reshuffled his backline to include Liam Williams at fullback and Elliot Daly on the wing after their eye-catching performances in this week’s 34-6 win over Waikato Chiefs. They edge out Leigh Halfpenny and George North respectively, with North not even included in the match-day squad after failing to impress in the warm-up fixtures.
Perhaps surprisingly, Alun Wyn Jones comes in at lock, with Maro Itoje starting on the bench.
Gatland said his replacements, which include the likes of Warburton, Itoje and Sexton, would be vital as he seeks an 80-minute performance against strong-finishing New Zealand.
“We’re excited about the 15 to take the field but we’ve also got a strong, experienced bench of players who can give us some real impact,” he said. Warburton’s relegation had been widely anticipated and Gatland said he was determined to select players based on their tour performances, not reputations.
“We have picked a side based on form with a lot of players putting their hands up, especially from the Crusaders and Maori All Blacks games, and it was a lively selection meeting,” he said.
“The win against the Chiefs was also extremely important for the squad and some players played themselves into the side.”
Lions (15-1):
Liam Williams (Scarlets/WAL); Anthony Watson (Bath/ENG), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets/WAL), Ben Te’o (Worcester/ENG), Elliot Daly (Wasps/ENG); Owen Farrell (Saracens/ENG), Conor Murray (Munster/IRL); Taulupe Faletau (Bath/ENG), Sean O’Brien (Leinster/IRL), Peter O’Mahony (capt - Munster/IRL); George Kruis (Saracens/ENG), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys/WAL); Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/IRL), Jamie George (Saracens/ENG), Mako Vunipola (Saracens/ ENG)
Replacements: Ken Owens (Scarlets/WAL), Jack McGrath (Leinster/IRL), Kyle Sinckler(Harlequins/ENG), Maro Itoje (Saracens/ ENG), Sam Warburton (Cardiff/WAL), Rhys Webb (Ospreys/WAL), Johnny Sexton (Leinster/IRL), Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon/WAL)
All Blacks say they can crack Lions’ defence
The All Blacks believe they’ve cracked the code to beating the British and Irish Lions rushed defence, with coach Steve Hansen saying yesterday they have plans to outsmart their lightning line speed.
Hansen also dismissed claims by his Lions counterpart Warren Gatland that he was “worried” ahead of the long-awaited first Test between the world champions and the Lions in Auckland tomorrow. Although the tourists have lost two midweek games, their shadow Test line-up managed to put away Super Rugby leaders Canterbury Crusaders and a strong Maori All Blacks side with a defensive intensity that crushed the life out of the opposition.
“You would assume that because they have had a lot of success with their line speed and their ability to dominate up front that that’s what they’ll try and do with us,” Hansen said, after naming his Test team. “Have we got a plan for it? Well obviously we hope we do,” he added, without revealing how the All Blacks will combat the threat.
“We’ll see how good the plan is when we get out there on Saturday night but it would be very foolish to believe they’re not going to bring some line speed.”
Hansen has named Sonny Bill Williams, with his ability to offload in the tightest situations, and Ryan Crotty, a master reader of the game, as his starting centres. The surprise selection was Rieko Ioane ahead of the vastly more experienced Julian Savea on the wing.
Ioane is the fastest member of the All Blacks squad and also offers a safe option with Ben Smith and Israel Dagg with the All Blacks back three expected to face an aerial bombardment from Lions halves Conor Murray and Owen Farrell.
