BRITISH and Irish Lions head coach Ian McGeechan has made wholesale changes for tomorrow's final match of the series against world champions South Africa, but the absence once again of any Scots means that there will now be a desperately grim period of 12 years without a Scot starting a Test match for the Lions.
No Scots started any of the three Test matches on the Lions' last tour four years ago to New Zealand, with Gordon Bulloch making an appearance from the bench in the final match. The last time a Scot started a Test match for the Lions was when Tom Smi
th played in all three matches against Australia in 2001 – and even then, he was the sole Scottish representative in the Test teams. With the next Lions tour not until they travel to Australia in 2013, a dozen years will have passed since a Scot started a Test match in the famous red shirt.
This year, McGeechan picked only two Scottish players – Nathan Hines and Euan Murray – in his original squad of 37, and as feared, the Scots in the party were included as back-up rather than Test-match material, even though Hines and Murray were joined in the travelling squad by late call-ups Ross Ford and Mike Blair. Tomorrow's final Test is now relatively meaningless after South Africa clinched the series last week, but former Scotland coach McGeechan has gone no further than naming Ford on the bench, while Hines and Blair are left out entirely.
A wrist injury has sidelined Wales centre Jamie Roberts, so England's Riki Flutey forges a new midfield combination with Ireland's Tommy Bowe, who switches from the wing.
Ugo Monye, dropped after the first Test defeat, returns in the No14 shirt, with world player of the year Shane Williams starting instead of Luke Fitzgerald on the other wing.
England props Andrew Sheridan and Phil Vickery take over from injured pair Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones, while back-row changes see starts for Wasps flanker Joe Worsley and Wales openside Martyn Williams.
The seven changes and one positional alteration mean just five players will have started all three Tests – Bowe, fly-half Stephen Jones, scrum-half Mike Phillips, skipper Paul O'Connell and No8 Jamie Heaslip.
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.
Vickery returns for another confrontation with Springboks loosehead Tendai "The Beast" Mtawarira, who scrummaged the Englishman into oblivion in Durban a fortnight ago. "It is fair to say injuries have had an impact on the tour, as you would expect," said McGeechan. "We were unfortunate to lose Brian O'Driscoll, Jamie Roberts, Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones through injury last Saturday.
"However, the players coming into the starting XV are all talented international players and are as keen as ever to turn the tables on the Springboks. Last Saturday, we were minutes away from winning, and that is a huge positive to take into the third Test."
McGeechan has opted for five forwards on the bench – hooker Ford, prop John Hayes, lock Alun-Wyn Jones, plus flankers Tom Croft and David Wallace, who drop out of the starting team. Scrum-half Harry Ellis and fly-half James Hook will provide back division cover.
Four players – Flutey, Sheridan, Worsley and Martyn Williams – all make their full Lions Test debuts.
McGeechan added: "We've tried to freshen it up – there have been some tight calls over the first two Tests. We gave the players a break earlier in the week, but we are back to it now and very keen to finish with a win."
Both McGeechan and Lions manager Gerald Davies, meanwhile, moved to ease any tension between the camps following a fraught third Test build-up.
Not only did Burger and Botha collect bans, but Springboks coach Peter de Villiers also suggested there had been no official congratulations from the Lions on South Africa's series win.
But McGeechan countered: "I certainly said 'well done' on the series. Twice, when we were both coming away from different media things (last Saturday], I shook his (De Villiers'] hand and said 'well done'.
"I think it has been a fantastic series. South Africa's finishing has been top-class, as has their defence. To have two games like that, and hopefully have a third, I think everyone will have got a lot from it."
Davies added: "Our relationship with the Springboks has been excellent throughout. We've had a wonderful arrangement with them. I've shaken hands with all the management and the (South Africa Rugby Union] president at every game I have witnessed. Once the whistle has blown, the game is over.
"If there was controversy arising out of the last game, I am saddened about that and disappointed about that because that incident (Burger making contact with the eye area of Fitzgerald], dare I say it, has no place in the game."
