Lions make 5 changes for 2nd test v Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Warren Gatland couldn’t recall who devised the theory that it was bad to tamper with a winning combination, and he didn’t care anyway after making five changes to his British and Irish Lions starting XV in a bid to push for a series-clinching win in the second test against Australia.

Gatland made two enforced changes in the forwards, but it was the personnel changes at scrumhalf, on the blindside flank and on the wing that came as a surprise after the 23-21 first-test win over the Wallabies in Brisbane last weekend.

Big, abrasive scrumhalf Mike Phillips made way for England halfback Ben Youngs, Welsh flanker Dan Lydiate displaced Tom Croft at No. 6 and Tommy Bowe returned from a hand injury that originally threatened his whole tour to push Welsh winger Alex Cuthbert out of the starting lineup.

“It’s about picking the best team to do a job for us,” Gatland said after announcing his 23-man match squad on Thursday. “We can win this series by winning on Saturday, that’s what our whole focus needs to be.

“This is a do-or-die match for Australia. It’s going to be a real battle out there (so) we’ve decided to add a little bit more physicality to our side up front.”

The Lions escaped with a victory in Brisbane when replacement Wallabies fullback Kurtley Beale missed two late shots at goal, including a penalty attempt as the fulltime siren sounded. The teams scored two tries apiece, and the difference came down to place kicks — Lions fullback Leigh Halfpenny landed five from six, while Wallabies flyhalf James O’Connor and Beale missed five kicks between them, a potential 14 points for the Wallabies.

Welsh flanker Sam Warburton is desperate to be the first Lions captain to win a series since 1997, and is preparing his squad for a brutal comeback from the Wallabies in Melbourne, where they swung the 2001 series with Joe Roff’s intercept try after half time and went on to win the second and third tests.

“They’ll bounce back. They were only a kick away from winning last week,” Warburton said. “They know that they’ve got every chance of getting the test series back. If it was us 1-0 down, we’d be positive. We’d believe that we could pull it back.

“Australians being Australians, they’re probably optimistic. I imagine they’ll come out firing. It’s all or nothing from them now.”

Australia made some injury enforced changes, with Beale starting at fullback in place of injured Berrick Barnes and Joe Tomane replacing Digby Ioane, but coach Robbie Deans kept faith with O’Connor at 10 and picked Christian Leali’ifano and Adam Ashley-Cooper despite both picking up injuries last week.

The Lions lost veteran Irish lock Paul O’Connell for the series after he broke his arm in the first test, replacing him with Geoff Parling, and will have Mako Vunipola starting in place of injured prop Alex Corbisiero.

Phillips was fit enough to play but Gatland said the Welsh No. 9 had some niggling strains and he took a tactical decision to give Youngs a shot at the back of a scrum that will feature his brother Tom at hooker.

“Mike was fit, available, but he’s had problems with that knee and hasn’t been able to take a full part in training,” Gatland said. “The decision was to rest him for this week. He’s potentially important for next week, so we ... felt it was prudent to make sure he was 100 percent fit by giving him a few days off his feet.”

Lydiate led the Lions’ second-string lineup to a 35-0 win over the Melbourne Rebels on Tuesday and produced a performance that earned him test selection. Irish flanker Sean O’Brien and scrumhalf Conor Murray also forced themselves onto the bench, but England center Manu Tuilagi didn’t quite do enough to break up the midfield test partnership between Irish veteran Brian O’Driscoll and Wales inside center Jonathan Davies.

“Several players have put their hands up this week and have forced their way into the test side,” Gatland said. “We want players to constantly push for selection, we then select who is on form and who is available. Based on that we have selected a squad that is capable of winning the test and securing the series.”

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British and Irish Lions: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), Tommy Bowe (Ireland) Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland), Jonathan Davies (Wales), George North (Wales), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland), Ben Youngs (England); Jamie Heaslip (Ireland), Sam Warburton (captain, Wales), Dan Lydiate (Wales), Geoff Parling (England) Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales), Adam Jones (Wales), Tom Youngs (England), Mako Vunipola (England),

Reserves: Richard Hibbard (Wales), Ryan Grant (Scotland), Dan Cole (England), Tom Croft (England), Sean O’Brien (Ireland), Conor Murray (Ireland), Owen Farrell (England), Alex Cuthbert (Wales).