Saints star Pollock gets the nod at No.8 for Lions' tour opener in Perth

Henry Pollock will start for the British & Irish Lions for the first time on Saturday as they face Western Force in their tour opener in Perth.

Alex Mitchell is also set to be involved after the Saints scrum-half was named among the replacements.

Henry Pollock (photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)placeholder image
Henry Pollock (photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

After landing Down Under earlier this week, the Lions will run out at Optus Stadium on the West Coast against the Super Rugby Pacific side on Saturday.

Pollock made his Lions debut off the bench in the narrow defeat to Argentina in Dublin last Friday, and he now gets the nod at No.8.

Mitchell, who made his Lions bow from the start in the clash at the Aviva Stadium, is this time named on the bench.

Former Saints player Matt Proctor starts in the centres for Western Force.

The game kicks off at 11am and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland.

On the 2013 Tour, the Lions ran out 69-17 winners against Western Force at the Subiaco Oval. Current assistant coach Johnny Sexton got the Lions off the mark with an early score, while Leigh Halfpenny converted all nine Lions tries.

British & Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell said: “We have had a good week of training and all of the travel and time zone changes have been managed really well, so we are good to go.

“We know the quality and experience the Force have, and the opportunity to play against the Lions always brings out special performances from the Super Rugby sides, so we expect them to be at their best.”

British & Irish Lions team to face Western Force: 15. Elliot Daly (Saracens/England) #822; 14. Mack Hansen (Connacht Rugby/Ireland) #867, 13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), 12. Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland) #863, 11. James Lowe (Leinster Rugby/Ireland); 10. Finn Russell (Bath Rugby/Scotland) #835, 9. Tomos Williams (Gloucester Rugby/Wales) #866; 1. Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland) #868, 2. Dan Sheehan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) (c), 3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #818; 4. Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/ Scotland) #869, 5. Joe McCarthy (Leinster Rugby/Ireland); 6. Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby/Ireland) #838, 7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), 8. Henry Pollock (Saints/England) #865.

Replacements: 16. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #864, 17. Andrew Porter (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), 18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby/England), 19. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England), 20. Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #839, 21. Alex Mitchell (Saints/England) #860, 22. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), 23. Marcus Smith (Harlequins/ England) #855.

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