Five Scotland stars get final Lions Test audition chance as Owen Farrell decision made

Centres Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones pair up again, while Duhan van der Merwe has been picked at wing and scrum-half Ben White will make his first start. In the forwards, Pierre Schoeman starts at prop and fellow Scotland internationalist Scott Cummings has been named on the bench as a replacement second row.

Saturday’s match will be the final chance for Tuipulotu, Jones, Van der Merwe, White, Schoeman and Cummings to force themselves into the reckoning for next weekend’s Test opener against Australia in Brisbane. Scotland stand-off Finn Russell - widely expected to be the Lions’ 10 against the Wallabies - has been rested, as has full-back Blair Kinghorn, who suffered a knee injury in Wednesday’s win over the ACT Brumbies.

Scottish hopes had been high pre-tour that national team captain Tuipulotu and his Glasgow Warriors sidekick Jones would be the Lions’ Test combination at centre, but it appears that the Irish duo of Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose are ahead of them in the pecking order. A strong display against the Invitational XV could give head coach Andy Farrell food for thought, though.

With concerns over Kinghorn’s fitness, Hugo Keenan is the only other natural 15 in the squad. He starts in Adelaide, with Ireland teammate Mack Hansen also picked on the wing. England’s Fin Smith combines with White in the half-backs at stand-off.

In the pack, Schoeman is joined by England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie and prop Will Stuart in the front row. Ireland’s James Ryan and Tadhg Beirne are the locks, with the latter captaining the team. The back row comprises of Henry Pollock (England), Jac Morgan (Wales) and No 8 Ben Earl (England).

Owen Farrell on the bench for Lions

Owen Farrell - the son of head coach Andy and a controversial call-up to replace the injured Elliot Daly - is one of eight replacements alongside Cummings, Ronan Kelleher (Ireland), Andrew Porter (Ireland), Finlay Bealham (Ireland), Josh van der Flier (Ireland), Alex Mitchell (England) and Marcus Smith (England).

“We are in a great position just over a week out from the first Test,” said Farrell. “The players now have another chance to put in a strong team performance and put a hand up for selection for the Test matches against the Wallabies. Les Kiss has assembled a strong squad with lots of international experience and we know that he will have them well organised and they will bring a lot of physicality to the contest.”

The game on Saturday. kicks off at 11.00am BST and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland.

British and Irish Lions team to play Invitational XV: H Keenan; M Hansen, H Jones, S Tuipulotu, D van der Merwe; F Smith, B White; P Schoeman, L Cowan-Dickie, W Stuart, J Ryan, T Beirne (c), H Pollock, J Morgan, B Earl. Replacements: R Kelleher, A Porter, F Bealham, S Cummings, J van der Flier, A Mitchell, M Smith, O Farrell.