Riki Flutey and Joe Worsley will start against South Africa on Saturday as the injury-hit British and Irish Lions make a host of changes for the third Test.

With Jamie Roberts and Brian O’Driscoll ruled out, Flutey forms a centre partnership with Ireland’s Tommy Bowe – who moves in from the wing.

Ugo Monye and Shane Williams start out wide, while Andrew Sheridan and Phil Vickery are named in the front row.

Worsley and Martyn Williams are both named in a new-look back-row.

In total there are eight changes, including one positional, from the side that suffered a decisive loss in the second Test last weekend.

Four players were ruled out for the rest of the tour following the ferocious contest in Pretoria, props Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones as well as O’Driscoll and Roberts, forcing head coach Ian McGeechan to make changes.

“This is a new Test match in many respects because the players out there will want to respond very positively and if we play well enough to win it will be a very sweet victory,” said McGeechan.

“We gave the players a break this week but we are back to it now and we are keen to finish off with a win.

“We could be sitting here with two wins under our belt. We had two fantastic games of rugby and I hope it will be the same again.”

The selection of Vickery gives the Englishman a chance to eradicate the painful memories of the first Test in Durban.

The Wasps tight-head prop had a torrid time at the hands of the Springboks loose-head Tendai “The Beast” Mtawarira and was subsequently dropped for the second Test.

McGeechan said he has no qualms about naming Vickery in the starting line-up, insisting the problems the Lions had with the refereeing of the scrum had been ironed out.

“I am very confident,” added McGeechan. “Phil is a world-class prop.

“He is an outstanding tourist and after the first Test he put all of his efforts into supporting Adam Jones when he got the position. You could not have asked for anymore.”

Worsley and Flutey make their full Test debuts for the Lions while England’s Sheridan and Martyn Williams of Wales both earn their first Lions Test starts.

Flutey, who played for Wellington against the Lions in 2005, starts alongside Ireland and Ospreys wing Bowe in midfield.

“Tommy has had a strong tour,” said McGeechan. “He is a strong runner and having the two of them gives us a slightly different balance. Hopefully they will bring the best rugby out of each other.”

On the bench, the Lions have opted to name five forwards with scrum-half Harry Ellis and fly-half/centre James Hook covering the backs.

Hook has taken over from last week’s replacement fly-half Ronan O’Gara while wing Luke Fitzgerald, who started the second Test, drops out of the squad completely.

Veteran Ireland prop John Hayes is poised to make his Lions Test debut after being drafted onto the bench.

Flankers David Wallace and Tom Croft, who started the first two Tests, are also among the replacements.

“It was nip and tuck between Martyn Williams and David Wallace, having fresh legs was important,” said McGeechan.

“Joe Worsley has had a big tour and he has not always had the best opportunities in some of the conditions he has found himself under. I feel he deserves that start.”

The selection means just four players will have started all three Tests – fly-half Stephen Jones, scrum-half Mike Phillips, skipper Paul O’Connell and number eight Jamie Heaslip.

South Africa’s win on Saturday gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series and the Lions must win at Ellis Park to avoid suffering a Test series whitewash for the first time in 118 years of fixtures between the sides.

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Lions: Kearney; Monye, Bowe, Flutey, S Williams; S Jones, Phillips; Sheridan, Rees, Vickery, Shaw, O’Connell, Worsley, M Williams, Heaslip.
Replacements: Ford, Hayes, Alun-Wyn Jones, Wallace, Croft, Ellis, Hook.

South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has launched an astonishing defence of banned flanker Schalk Burger.
He was found guilty of “making contact with the face in the eye area” of British and Irish Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald in Saturday’s second Test.
“It is a contact sport and so is dancing. Guys who can’t take it, let’s go to the nearest ballet shop and get some tutus”, De Villiers said.
South Africa will not appeal against Burger’s eight-week ban.

The world champions also saw second row Bakkies Botha handed a two-week ban for dangerous charging.
They have yet to decide whether to appeal against Botha’s ban, and as a result have delayed naming their team for the third Test until Thursday – the same day as the Lions.

Five Lions players were taken to hospital following Saturday’s game, with Welsh duo Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones out of the third Test with a broken cheekbone and a dislocated shoulder respectively.
When he was asked if he thought the sport was becoming more violent De Villiers said: “If we are going to make it soft because we want a safe series and people don’t like it, I can’t do anything about it.”
Television footage showed Burger’s fingers making contact with Fitzgerald’s eye inside the first minute of the game in Pretoria.

Fitzgerald was able to continue after treatment, but Burger escaped with only a yellow card from French referee Christophe Berdos, a decision taken on the advice of New Zealand touch judge Bryce Lawrence, who spotted the offence.
“I have watched the television footage, and am still convinced that nothing he did was on purpose,” said De Villiers. “He is an honourable man – he never meant to go to anyone’s eye.”

The International Rugby Board (IRB) says it is looking into the issue of eye-gouging after the incident involving Burger and another involving Italy captain Sergio Parisse, who was also banned for eight weeks for a similar offence during Saturday’s 27-6 defeat by New Zealand in Christchurch.
The IRB is awaiting the report from South Africa via their judicial officer Alan Hudson.
“The IRB does not condone any violent behaviour and there is no place for illegal play in our game,” said an IRB spokesman.

According to the IRB regulations, the recommended minimum sanction for “contact with the eye or eye area” is 12 weeks.
Meanwhile, former England hooker Brian Moore wants gouging bans to be increased.
“It’s been a publicised issue, bans have been handed out but people aren’t stopping doing it and if the bans aren’t working they have got to be longer,” Moore told the BBC.
“Rugby is a contact sport and you have to accept the risks but Burger gouged him, it was as simple as that. It can’t be accidental and there is no place for it in the game.
“I don’t know how Bryce Lawrence, who was the referee in the first Test and had the best view of this incident of anyone in the world, could not understand that there is no other sanction other than a red card for gouging.
“He is an elite referee and to get that wrong is scandalous.”

Scotland prop Euan Murray has been ruled out of the rest of the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa.
Northampton’s Murray has failed to recover from an ankle injury sustained during the victory over Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth earlier this week.

An X-ray showed there was no fracture, but he will remain sidelined.

Meanwhile, former player John Beattie said it was embarrassing that no Scots were named in the side to face South Africa in Saturday’s opening Test.Beattie, now a BBC Scotland pundit, said he was disappointed no Scots were in Lions head coach Ian McGeechan’s side for Saturday’s clash in Durban.”I’m embarrassed by it,” he told BBC Radio Scotland’s Sports Report. “I think it’s embarrassing that we have no Scots involved. The last time this happened was 2005 – no Scots in the team or on the bench.

“They went on to have a disastrous tour of New Zealand. And we’ve just heard that Euan Murray has been ruled out of the tour completely. “I don’t think we were strong enough in arguing for enough Scottish players to go.”

Beattie added that the Scots on the tour had failed to hit the heights in the games so far. “The players who could’ve got in the team haven’t played that well.”Ross Ford hasn’t played that well; every time he throws in the commentators are talking about squint throws and Nathan Hines was the closest.”Beattie said it was not the best day for Scottish rugby, adding: “If you’re honest, we don’t have players who rival Brian O’Driscoll and Jamie Roberts, and I think questions will be asked after this tour as to why not.”

British and Irish Lions team to play South Africa in the first Test in Durban on Saturday:
L Byrne (Wales and Ospreys); T Bowe (Ireland and Ospreys), B O’Driscoll (Ireland and Leinster), J Roberts (Wales and Cardiff Blues), U Monye (England and Harlequins); S Jones (Wales and Scarlets), M Phillips (Wales and Ospreys); G Jenkins (Wales and Cardiff Blues), L Mears (England and Bath), P Vickery (England and Wasps), Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales and Ospreys), P O’Connell (Ireland and Munster, capt), T Croft (England and Leicester), D Wallace (Ireland and Munster), J Heaslip (Ireland and Leinster).
Replacements: M Rees (Wales and Scarlets), A Jones (Wales and Ospreys), D O’Callaghan (Ireland and Munster), M Williams (Wales and Cardiff Blues), H Ellis(England and Leicester), R O’Gara (Ireland and Munster), R Kearney (Ireland and Leinster).

David Wallace and Ugo Monye have been named in the British and Irish Lions team for Saturday’s opening Test against world champions South Africa.

The biggest question mark surrounded the number seven jersey, where Martyn Williams and Wallace were vying to start the match at open-side flanker.

Monye will start on the left wing ahead of Luke Fitzgerald and Shane Williams, with Tommy Bowe on the right.Alun Wyn Jones partners captain Paul O’Connell in the second row.

Welshmen Mike Phillips and Stephen Jones form the half-back pairing, with Jamie Roberts and Brian O’Driscoll at inside and outside centre respectively and Lee Byrne at full-back.

Tom Croft, Jamie Heaslip and Wallace make up the back row, with Gethin Jenkins, Lee Mears and Phil Vickery comprising the front three.

Leicester flanker Croft missed out on selection for the initial squad but received a call-up after Munster flanker Alan Quinlan was ruled out of the tour through suspension and he has taken his chance with a series of impressive displays.

There were two notable omissions from the match 22 with no place on the bench for winger Shane Williams, the 2008 world player of the year, or England prop Andrew Sheridan.

Byrne, Bowe, Monye, Roberts, Phillips, Mears, Alun Wyn Jones, Croft, Wallace and Heaslip will all be playing in their first Lions Test.

O’Driscoll and Vickery started all three Tests in Australia in 2001, while O’Driscoll’s involvement in New Zealand in 2005 ended within a minute of the first Test through injury.

They are the only members of the side to have experienced a Lions Test victory, in Brisbane in 2001, the last time the Lions won a Test.

Skipper O’Connell and Jenkins started all three Tests in New Zealand, while fly-half Stephen Jones started two and came on as a replacement in the other.

“The Test team has been picked on form following the six provincial matches,” said Lions head coach Ian McGeechan.

“There were some very difficult calls to make as the players as a group and individually have done everything that we have asked of them and performed on the field.

“It has been 20 years since a Lions team has won all of its provincial matches leading up to the Test series so it is very satisfying to be in such a position.

“The entire squad and the management have worked hard to create an outstanding team environment. Everyone has done this very professionally and it is fair to say that I would not change anything that we have done so far.

“There’s no doubt South Africa are probably the best team in the world at the moment, they’re very talented, have a settled coaching team and play quite a varied game, from strength and power to subtlety and speed – we’re under no illusions how good they are.”

O’Connell was keen to praise those players who have not been selected for the starting XV.

“The way the guys have reacted is great, a tour hinges on moments like this and Test selections,” he said. “It’s not only how the Test players react to to selection but how the others react to not being picked.

“This is the big start of the tour, the atmosphere in the squad is what’s going to be carry us through the next three weeks – it’s been good so far.

“I’d imagine it’ll be an emotional changing room (on Saturday), something we’ve spoken about is how special is it.

“At the start of the tour we’d have said we’re proud of our club and proud of our country, but this is the greatest jersey we can pull on.

“We’ve got great pace in the backline and a very fit front five. There’s no doubt we’ll need things to got our way, as any tour does, but if we put together a good 80 minutes, no doubt we can win.

The Lions have won all six of their matches on tour so far and will be hoping to repeat the first-Test success they enjoyed on their way to a series win over the Springboks 12 years ago.

Tries from Matt Dawson and Alan Tait helped the unfancied tourists to a 25-16 win before Jeremy Guscott’s drop-goal sealed the series in Durban the following week.

The Lions return to the venue on Saturday for the only one of their three encounters with the Springboks to be staged at sea-level, before travelling to Pretoria and Johannesburg for the 27 June and 4 July Tests.

South Africa’s only competitive preparation for the series was a 36-7 win over a Namibian Invitation XV on 27 May.

But stars such as Victor Matfield, Fourie du Preez and Bryan Habana were absent from the Springboks side as they were preparing for the Bulls’ 61-17 Super 14 final win over the Chiefs the following weekend.

British and Irish Lions team to play South Africa in the first Test in Durban on Saturday:

L Byrne (Wales and Ospreys); T Bowe (Ireland and Ospreys), B O’Driscoll (Ireland and Leinster), J Roberts (Wales and Cardiff Blues), U Monye (England and Harlequins); S Jones (Wales and Scarlets), M Phillips (Wales and Ospreys); G Jenkins (Wales and Cardiff Blues), L Mears (England and Bath), P Vickery (England and Wasps), Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales and Ospreys), P O’Connell (Ireland and Munster, capt), T Croft (England and Leicester), D Wallace (Ireland and Munster), J Heaslip (Ireland and Leinster).

Replacements: M Rees (Wales and Scarlets), A Jones (Wales and Ospreys), D O’Callaghan (Ireland and Munster), M Williams (Wales and Cardiff Blues), H Ellis(England and Leicester), R O’Gara (Ireland and Munster), R Kearney (Ireland and Leinster).

Ulster and Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris is disappointed to miss the rest of the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa because of a knee injury.

The 23-year-old, who was tipped to take a place in the Test team after impressing in the opening games, tore a knee ligament while training on Monday.

“I’m a bit deflated after such a stupid injury put me out,” he said.

“It is pretty gutting, but I have a few highlights and getting a couple of tries for the Lions is fantastic.”

Ferris scored two tries in two games and was also named man of the match for his display against the Free State Cheetahs.

“It was just one one of those things, a very unfortunate injury in training,” added the Grand Slam winner.

“It was the last drill in the training session and I got twisted the wrong way and that was it, my medial ligaments went on me.
“I got a grade two tear and it wasn’t looking too good at the time and then the scan confirmed that I would be missing out.

“When it first happened, I thought I could bounce back up and keep going and then after about 10 seconds, I realised it was a bit sorer than I first thought.

“The doctors were with me straight away and they got me to the hospital for a scan and unfortunately it showed up what they expected.

“I’m back doing rehab already and I’m off the crutches so I’m up walking about.

“I was in the gym this morning, did a few squats and hopefully, in a week or two, it will be strengthened up again and I will be able to get back into the swing of things.”

It was bitter blow for Ferris after having made such a promising start to his Lions career.

“To score on my debut and to back it up the following week with a man of the match performance and another try was great.

“I hope I did the people proud back in Ulster. It was such a privilege to play for the Lions.

“I think my first try on my debut was a bit lucky, a couple of the guys counter-rucked pretty well and I picked the ball up and fortunately I had the legs to get close to the sticks.

“It was a great feeling and a great buzz after the game and I knew I played quite well.

“Then to get my first start against the Cheetahs, I was looking to make an impression and give it 100%, but I got a yellow card early on which didn’t help things.

“It was a great experience for me and it is definitely a highlight of my career being over here.

“I have made a lot of friends out here and I will carry on those relationships when I get back.”