The Leicester Tigers duo, along with Leinster’s Luke Fitzgerald, Jamie Heaslip, Luke Kearney and Brian O’Driscoll, will sit out the tour opener in Rustenburg on Saturday after their exertions in last weekend’s Heineken Cup Final.
Lions captain Paul O’Connell will lead the team from the second row. O’Connell will be joined in the 22-man matchday squad by eight players with previous Lions experience in Shane Williams, Ronan O’Gara, Andrew Sheridan, Simon Shaw, Martyn Williams, Phil Vickery and Stephen Jones.
Head Coach Ian McGeechan said: "While we have a lot of players making their Lions debuts there is a huge amount of international experience in the team. The average age is 28 that reflects the maturity we have in the squad.”
British & Irish Lions (vs Royal XV Saturday, May 30 2pm)
15 Lee Byrne (Ospreys/Wales)
14 Tommy Bowe (Ospreys/Wales)
13 Keith Earls (Munster/Ireland)
12 Jamie Roberts (Cardiff Blues/Wales)
11 Shane Williams (Ospreys/Wales)
10 Ronan O'Gara (Munster/Ireland)
9 Mike Blair (Edinburgh/Scotland)
8 Andy Powell (Cardiff Blues/Wales)
7 Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues/Wales)
6 Joe Worsley (London Wasps/England)
5 Paul O'Connell (Munster/Ireland) captain
4 Simon Shaw (London Wasps/England)
3 Adam Jones (Ospreys/Wales)
2 Matthew Rees (Scarlets/Wales)
1 Andrew Sheridan (Sales Sharks/England)
Replacements:
16 Lee Mears (Bath/England)
17 Phil Vickery (London Wasps/England)
18 Alun-Wyn Jones (Ospreys/Wales)
19 Stephen Ferris (Ulster/Ireland)
20 Mike Phillips (Ospreys/Wales)
21 Stephen Jones (Scarlets/Wales)
22 Riki Flutey (London Wasps/England)
