'Gats is notorious for making changes' - Alun Wyn Jones

'Gats is notorious for making changes' - Alun Wyn Jones

British and Irish Lions captain Alun Wyn Jones says the players are aware that Warren Gatland will make changes for the decisive third Test.

The Lions skipper also admitted that he failed to enlist the referee's support in speeding up the game.

When asked what the spirit was like between the players after the second Test defeat in Cape Town, the second-row said: "There was a lot of eye contact and you could feel the fact that everyone is well aware that Gats will make changes.

"There will probably be an opportunity for some and I have a feeling that people want to put it right. I could definitely feel that.

“In the immediate, we have got to get up and stay together. It's still a squad effort. Gats is notorious for making changes and we go again.


“There has been a lot said about a wounded Springbok, but I think the Lions have taken a dent today and we need to put it right.”

"We obviously talked about tempo, it's what we saw last week, and we tried to do that. But we weren't able to do it.


"That's because of the Springboks' game management. Ultimately we go when the whistle's on.

"A lot has been said in the week about speaking to the man in the middle so I tried to be as respectful as I could to try and get that tempo in the game, but I obviously failed at that."

Jones insists it was the Lions' failings rather than South Africa's response following their defeat in the first Test that led to their downfall.

"From the outside it probably looked like a backlash, but from where I'm sitting here we didn't help ourselves," Jones said.

"We were well aware of what they were going to improve on. They probably did to us what we wanted to do to them. They tried to do it last week, they probably just did it better and we saw more of it."

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