Summary The loss to the Brumbies was a "blip for us," Gatland said.
BRISBANE (AP) - British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland is keeping faith with a nucleus of Welshmen for the series-opening test against Australia, selecting eight players from his Six Nations champion team in the starting XV.
Welsh flanker Sam Warburton was confirmed as test captain in a back row comprising Irish No. 8 Jamie Heaslip and English blindside flanker Tom Croft.
Ireland veteran Brian O'Driscoll will partner Jonathan Davies in the centers, and will be hoping to reproduce the form of his Lions debut against the Australians in 2001, when he shredded the backline defense. The Lions won that test in Brisbane, but lost the next two matches in Melbourne and Sydney and are still trying to win their first series since the 1997 tour to South Africa.
O'Driscoll, on his fourth Lions tour, and fellow Irishman Jonathan Sexton at flyhalf are the only non-Wales players in a starting backline that includes five new Lions caps. Centers Manu Tuilagi and Jamie Roberts and winger Tommy Bowe were unavailable due to injuries.
"I don't think it's about a national thing," said Gatland, a New Zealander who was picked to coach the Lions on the basis of his success with the Wales national team. "It's about the Lions. Whoever makes the makeup of it is irrelevant to me.
"We've looked at just picking the best possible team that we can to win the first test."
Wales has lost its last eight tests against Australia, including all three on the tour Down Under last year and a last-minute 14-12 defeat in Cardiff in November, but Warburton has consistently said those close results and the addition of the English, Irish and Scottish stars will galvanize the Lions team to beat the Wallabies.
Gatland said the front row, the loose forwards and the center pairing were the most debated areas for selectors after so many candidates emerged as the Lions won five of their first six tour matches.
The pack is a mix of youth and experience, with 2009 Lions captain Paul O'Connell in the second row to partner Welshman Alun-Wyn Jones, and Adam Jones joined in the front row by English prop Alex Corbisiero and hooker Tom Youngs
two of the three new caps in the forwards.
"After six matches we have arrived at the first test and have selected our strongest possible," Gatland said. "The Wallabies at home pose a huge challenge, but the test team contains 20 of the players that played against the Waratahs in what was our best match to date. We now have a couple of more days of match preparation to ensure we improve again on that performance."
The Lions opened their tour with a 59-8 win over the Barbarians in Hong Kong on June 1, then beat the Western Force in Perth before a narrow 22-12 win over the 2011 Super Rugby champion Queensland Reds in Brisbane. They followed that with wins over a Combined Country team and the New South Wales Waratahs before Tuesday's 14-12 defeat to the Brumbies in Canberra, the Lions' first loss to an Australian provincial team since 1971.
The team for Saturday's first test carries very little resemblance to the team that played the Brumbies.
Big Welsh winger George North recovered from injury to take his place on the wing and will restore some size to the Lions backline after Tuilagi and Roberts were ruled out.
Gatland said Mako Vunipola was unlucky to miss out on a starting spot in the front row, but Corbisiero was a technically better option and "Mako will make a big impact for us coming off the bench."
The selection indicates Gatland wants big, powerful backs to overrun Australia. With injuries and changes, he thinks O'Driscoll and Davies will offer more subtleties and variety against the Wallabies.
The loss to the Brumbies was a "blip for us," Gatland said, explaining that the Lions didn't play to the wet and slippery conditions.
"We've come here to show the Australian public that we can play rugby. We've played some great rugby so far," he said. "In the last two Saturdays against the Reds and the Waratahs, a lot of players in the side have been building that momentum. We feel very positive where we are. We feel like we've got a few hit-outs under our belts ... given us that match-hardened edge we've been looking for."
Gatland said his combinations had started coming together and each of the players had the required amount of rugby to have an edge over the Wallabies, who have been in camp for three weeks.
"The Australian players haven't played for three or four weeks and it's been a bit longer for two of three of their key players because they've been injured," he said. "We need to really take it to them physically and with the kind of tempo they're used to putting on other sides."
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British and Irish Lions: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), Alex Cuthbert (Wales), Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland), Jonathan Davies (Wales), George North (Wales), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), Mike Phillips (Wales); Jamie Heaslip (Ireland), Sam Warburton (captain, Wales), Tom Croft (England), Paul O'Connell (Ireland), Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales), Tom Youngs (England), Alex Corbisiero (England).
Reserves: Richard Hibbard (Wales), Mako Vunipola (England), Dan Cole (England), Geoff Parling (England), Dan Lydiate (Wales), Ben Youngs (England), Owen Farrell (England), Sean Maitland (Scotland).
