Lions captain

Savea named Lions captain

The right wing will lead the Lions for the first time, when they meet the mighty Canterbury at Westpac Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Wellington wing Stu Wilson once captained the All Blacks on a tour to Britain, but typically skippers are found nearer to the action.

But with No.8, and regular captain, Brad Shields out with a knee injury, Lions coach Chris Gibbes has turned to the team's elder statesmen. The 27-year-old Savea's only played 26 games for Wellington, since his debut in 2010, but he's a man that all the players look up to.

Warburton returns to captain Lions

Warren Galtand's tourists face the Super Rugby franchise in Dunedin on the back of tackling the competition's dominant force, Crusaders, and beating them 12-3 on Saturday.

Returning captain Warburton has not played the last two fixtures due to an ankle injury, while Biggar sat out the Crusaders win due to concussion.

The skipper is joined by James Haskell and CJ Stander in the back row, while Iain Henderson replaces Maro Itoje at lock from the Lions' last midweek match - a 22-16 defeat to Blues - to partner Courtney Lawes.

Lions captain Warren Whiteley won't play semi-final

Whiteley picked up the injury in the 42-25 quarter-final victory over the Crusaders last weekend and his loss is a blow for coach Johann Ackermann both in terms of his work with the ball and his leadership qualities.

The captain's armband moves to flank Jaco Kriel with the coach's son, Ruan Ackermann, taking over at the back of the scrum.

That is the only change to the starting line-up announced on Thursday from the side that thumped the Crusaders, though loose-forward Steph de Witt and scrumhalf Dillon Smit come onto the bench.