Sam Warburton, Ken Owens and Alun Wyn Jones have had the honour of leading the Lions in their opening matches, but Jones is not involved this weekend and both tour skipper Warburton and Owens are among the replacements for a game that is being billed as a fourth test for the tourists.
Leigh Halfpenny, George North and Jonathan Davies will play in the back line, while Taulupe Faletau returns at No 8. As well as Warburton and Owens, Dan Biggar is included among the replacements after being called in to replace the injured Owen Farrell.
“At this stage of the Tour it is important to build on the foundations that have been laid in the last few weeks. We were obviously disappointed with the loss against the Highlanders and realise that we need to improve in several areas, including our discipline,” said head coach Warren Gatland.
“We feel that overall we are building well towards the Test matches. Every game is a big challenge, which is what we wanted, and this is an experienced Lions team with eight of the starting 15 involved in the last Test in Australia in 2013.”
“Peter O’Mahony is a proven captain with Munster who never takes a backward step. We believe that those leadership qualities will serve us well against a quality and determined Maori All Blacks team.”
British & Irish Lions
15. Leigh Halfpenny
14. Anthony Watson
13. Jonathan Davies
12. Ben Te’o
11. George North
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Conor Murray
1. Mako Vunipola
2. Jamie George
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Maro Itoje
5. George Kruis
6. Peter O’Mahony (captain)
7. Sean O’Brien
8. Taulupe Faletau
Replacements
16. Ken Owens
17. Jack McGrath
18. Kyle Sinckler
19. Iain Henderson
20. Sam Warburton
21. Greig Laidlaw
22. Dan Biggar
23. Elliot Daly
