British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland said "I'm not even trying to think too much yet about the Test side, just looking at one game at a time and then as we start to get close, from coaching perspective it’s a great place to be in.
“We’ve got so much competition within this squad and players already putting their hand up. The players are working hard off the pitch in terms of knowing their roles, their calls and stuff.
“That’s been absolutely outstanding from their perspective and makes everyone’s job so much easier from the amount of hard work the players have been doing.”
Gatland was keen to take the pressure off his three debutants, stressing that the only thing that matters is that they go out and enjoy themselves against the Cell C Sharks. Tom Curry, Josh Navidi and Sam Simmonds have all been handed their first starts for the tourists in the second game of the 2021 Castle Lager Lions Series in Johannesburg tonight.
Gatland was keen to take the pressure off his three debutants, stressing that the only thing that matters is that they go out and enjoy themselves against the Cell C Sharks.
“With those guys, the message to them is just to play your own game,” he said. “It’s a great honour and incredible excitement for them to play their first game for the Lions.
“For me, it’s about not trying to put them under any pressure at all, they have got a lot of things to worry about and they’ll be a bit nervous so just go and enjoy the occasion.