THERE WERE OBVIOUS concerns last week that Lions centre pairing Robbie Henshaw and Elliot Daly had played just 57 minutes together before the first Test.
This week, Warren Gatland has gone for a midfield combination that has zero minutes together.
Daly always seemed likely to drop out of the starting XV after failing to make an impact in last weekend’s win over the Springboks, with two penalty concessions among the moments that will have frustrated him.
Gatland has opted to keep Daly’s useful versatility in the matchday 23 as a replacement but his place in the number 13 jersey has gone to Scotland’s Chris Harris, who has impressed on tour so far.
A fine defender who had a strong Six Nations for the Scots, Harris is now preparing himself for the biggest game of his career alongside Henshaw in the Lions’ midfield.
“We’ve done a fair bit in training, early on in the tour out in Jersey, and we’ve been training together this week,” said Harris this afternoon.
“I think we’re a decent partnership and I’m looking forward to playing with Robbie. He’s a quality player and I think we’ll complement each other.”
Harris has had a rather unique journey to this point.
A native of England who is Scotland-qualified through his grandmother, Harris certainly wasn’t a star in his youth.
He wasn’t picked up by a Premiership club’s academy and instead battled it out for Tynedale RFC in National League One, English rugby’s amateur third tier, until he was 24 when Newcastle took a punt on him.
Having been capped by the England Counties in 2013, Harris signed for the Falcons in 2014 and, after a loan spell with Rotherham in the Championship, continued his steady development over the next three seasons until Scotland boss Gregor Townsend called him up in the autumn of 2017.
Harris made his Test debut that year against Samoa but again, he was a slow burner, not really becoming a first-choice starter for the Scots until midway through the 2020 Six Nations, by which time he had moved to Gloucester at club level.
Harris’ development over the last two years has been impressive and now he’s set to become a Test Lion at the age of 30.
“I’m over the moon,” said Harris. “I was a bit taken aback when my name was read out by Warren. I’m absolutely delighted. It’s a big challenge for me personally and us as a team to go ahead and get two victories and get the win in the bag.
“Everyone, all my mates back home will be tuning in, my girlfriend and her family, the same with my Mum and Dad, they’ll all be watching a cheering me on.
“The journey I’ve had, Gregor’s role. I’ve got to give a lot of thanks to Gregor [who is the Lions' attack coach] for giving me that first opportunity back in 2017.
“It was a bit of a slowish start, I didn’t pick up too many caps in my first year but he still gave me opportunities. I’m obviously grateful that he did, it’s worked out pretty well for me.”
