Gatland surprises with captain for Sharks Take Two

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland named his team to play the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

Jamie George is named captain of a starting XV that has 13 changes to the team that played the same opposition earlier this week, with only Elliot Daly and Duhan van der Merwe retained.

The game against the Durban-based Sharks replaces the scheduled tour match against the Bulls and is the third in an eight-game series culminating in the three Tests against World Champions, the Springboks.

This is the second time the B&I Lions will have played the Sharks, having beaten them 54-7 at Ellis Park on Wednesday this week.

British and Irish Lions: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Chris Harris, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Jamie George (captain), 1 Rory Sutherland.

Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Tom Curry, 22 Conor Murray, 23 Finn Russell.

Date: Saturday, July 10

Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

Kick-off: 18.00 (17.00 BST; 16.00 GMT)

Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)

Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper, AJ Jacobs

TMO: Stuart Berry