Itoje returns as Lions make 14 changes to face Reds

Queensland Reds v British and Irish Lions

Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Date: Wednesday, 2 July Kick-off: 11.00 BST

Coverage: Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app

Maro Itoje returns as captain in the British and Irish Lions team to face the Queensland Reds at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Wednesday.

The Englishman did not feature in the squad that beat the Western Force but he is back as the leader of coach Andy Farrell's much-changed side.

There are 14 changes to the starting line-up from Perth, outside-half Finn Russell the only player who has retained his place.

Ireland's Hugo Keenan and Jamison Gibson-Park will make their first appearance on tour at full-back and scrum-half. Gibson-Park is in for the luckless Tomos Williams who is now out of the squad through injury.

Scotland's Ben White is on his way to Brisbane from New Zealand, where Gregor Townsend's squad are currently based before their game against the Maori in Whangerei on Saturday.

There will be a first Lions tour start not just for the two Irishmen but also for Huw Jones who forms a midfield partnership with Bundee Aki. It is the third different centre combination in three games.

Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and Will Stuart will also start for the first time in the front-row as will Ollie Chessum at lock and Jack Conan at No 8.

Ireland's James Ryan is set to make his Lions debut off the bench against the Reds.

"Here we go now," said Farrell in rainy Brisbane. "This is proper touring. Games are coming thick and fast.

"Three games in eight days and it keeps on rolling after that, so this is the exciting part of the tour for us. We've just been outlining to the lads this morning, actually, what the weeks are going to look like.

"Not much training out there on the field, but plenty of mental preparation. We see it as a great opportunity for ourselves to be fast-tracking our ambition, our potential as a team."

British and Irish Lions: Keenan, Freeman, Jones, Aki, Van der Merwe, Russell, Gibson-Park; Porter, Kelleher, Stuart, Itoje, Chessum, Curry, Morgan, Conan

Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Genge, Bealham, Ryan, Earl, Mitchell, F Smith, Ringrose

A couple of real heavy-hitters are making their Lions debut against the Reds. Keenan is one of them. Before this tour started the full-back slot for the Test series looked to be a battle between Keenan and Blair Kinghorn, who has just won a second Top 14 title with Toulouse.

Kinghorn is not expected in Brisbane until late on Monday evening local time. He has much ground to make up given that Elliot Daly has stolen a march on the Irishman and the Scot at 15. Keenan has a chance to lay down his own marker on Wednesday. Kinghorn will have to wait.

Farrell says that everyone will get a proper chance to impress, though.

"The amount of games that we have got, it does not really matter what type of thoughts that you have got in your head, you have got to be open-minded enough to allow people to challenge for that Test spot," said the coach.

"That's what we are trying to do. We are trying to get as good as we possibly can so that we're ready for that first Test.

"Everyone would love the door to be open enough to be able to do that. The nice thing about this run-in to the first Test is that we have a week before it so we still got plenty of opportunity for all in the group."

Jamison Gibson-Park is the second of those marquee men making his Lions debut against the Reds. His partnership with Russell could be utterly exhilarating.

Two natural footballers, two men with an enormous skill-set, two visionaries on the rugby field.

This is one of the combinations everybody has been waiting for. Farrell says he is still trying different combinations - and he clearly is - but this is the one he will surely have in mind for the first Test.

The captain is back.

"I feel good," said Itoje in Brisbane, when asked about the large number of minutes ore than 2,000 - he has already played this season.

"I was actually thinking about this the other day. I felt refreshed coming into this environment. Often when you talk about game minutes and load, part of it is the physical load, but a lot of it is the mental load.

"Coming into this new environment and spending time with new players, new systems, new coaches everything has been really refreshing for me.

"In my career I have had a lot of consistency with club and country so just to have a different stimulus has been great."