If you needed proof that this tour is dead in the water, the respective Test selections for the Lions and South Africa provided it yesterday.

Both Lions head coach Ian McGeechan and his idiosyncratic counterpart Peter De Villiers have opted to go with teams that do not fulfil the criteria of picking form players in their best positions but do satisfy the desire to “give fellahs a run”.

With props Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins ruled out through injury and centres Jamie Roberts and Brian O'Driscoll unavailable for the same reason, change was inevitable and into the Lions' side come Andrew Sheridan and Phil Vickery in the front row and a new midfield combination of Tommy Bowe and Riki Flutey.

There are seven changes and one positional switch in all and only five players — Paul O'Connell, Jamie Heaslip, Mike Phillips, Stephen Jones and Tommy Bowe — will have started all three Tests.

For Vickery, this represents a chance to restore a reputation ripped asunder by the scrummaging of Tendai ‘Beast' Mtawarira in the first Test.

The West Country veteran is a doughty individual who has obsessed about his Durban mauling for the past fortnight and you would back him to restore credibility tomorrow.

Sheridan was the logical selection to replace Jenkins, as was Flutey to replace Roberts, and the selection of Joe Worsley at blindside flanker reflects the fact that the Wasps man played well in his last outing against the Emerging Springboks and brings the physicality and defensive ability that Tom Croft lacked in Pretoria.

However, after that, we are into questionable selection territory. Shane Williams toured on the basis of reputation rather than recent achievement and the gifted runner has struggled to make any impact despite being regularly indulged by management.

His inclusion on the left wing is hard to justify as Luke Fitzgerald, despite being involved in the defensive mix-up for JP Pietersen's try, had a decent Lions Test debut but now finds himself out of the match-day 22.

The decision to bring Bowe in from the right wing to the centre suggests that the management are not prepared to expose Keith Earls to the physical challenge of a Test midfield battle nor give Gordon D'Arcy, who has experience of the outside centre position, a chance to show what he can do.

Bowe had a superb run in the warm-up games but has been starved of possession out wide in the Tests.

Asking him to replicate the influence of Brian O'Driscoll in midfield is a big ask but the Monaghan man has played centre for the Ospreys and will receive more ball in the first half an hour than he has got in his last two outings.

Bowe's relocation sees Ugo Monye handed the No 14 jersey where he will try to banish the memories of his try-spurning first Test display, presumably having learned the importance of wingers holding the ball in their outside hand.

Martyn Williams gets a start at openside and, while David Wallace has put in two sterling performances in the Tests, the veteran Welsh flanker is a quality operator and will have instructions to curb the breakdown influence of the excellent Heinrich Brussow.

Ronan O'Gara has been sporting a nasty eye injury this week, courtesy of the heavy knock he took shortly after coming on as a replacement last weekend.

His subsequent involvement in the crucial Jaque Fourie try and Morne Steyn winning penalty made it an especially tough week for the Cork man which has been compounded by his exclusion from the match-day 22 with James Hook coming onto the bench, where he will be joined by John Hayes, Croft and Wallace.

McGeechan's team face a Springbok side that has also seen wholesale changes, 10 in total, as De Villiers opts to have a look at players in a Test-match environment ahead of the Tri Nations.

Fourie in the centre and Steyn at out-half earn deserved call-ups after impressive cameos last weekend but, elsewhere, De Villiers has rested first-choice selections such as wingers Pietersen and Bryan Habana as well as hooker Bismark Du Plessis.

The wide positions are filled by Odwa Ndungane and Jongi Nokwe while Chiliboy Ralepelle starts ahead of Du Plessis.

As expected, Johann Muller comes into the second row for the suspended Bakkies Botha with Wynand Olivier joining Fourie in the centre.

Despite the raft of changes, both coaches maintained that they had selected strong teams for a match where the Lions will attempt to avoid suffering a Test series whitewash for the first time in 118 years of fixtures between the sides.

“This is a very strong side. I wanted to have 28 players who could play for the Springboks at any time and I think we've achieved that goal. I'm very happy with this selection,” said De Villiers.

“It is fair to say injuries have had an impact on the tour, as you would expect,'' said McGeechan.

“However, the players coming into the starting XV are all talented international players and are as keen as ever to turn the tables on the Springboks.”

LIONS TEAM

(v Springboks, Ellis Park, Johannesburg, 2.00pm): R Kearney (Leinster and Ireland); U Monye (Harlequins and England), T Bowe (Ospreys and Ireland), R Flutey (Wasps and England), S Williams (Ospreys and Wales); S Jones (Scarlets and Wales), M Phillips (Ospreys and Wales); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks and England), M Rees (Scarlets and Wales), P Vickery (Wasps and England), S Shaw (Wasps and England), P O'Connell (Munster and Ireland, capt), J Worsley (Wasps and England), M Williams (Cardiff Blues and Wales), J Heaslip (Leinster and Ireland).

Replacements: R Ford (Edinburgh and Scotland), J Hayes (Munster and Ireland), A-W Jones (Ospreys and Wales), D Wallace (Munster and Ireland), T Croft (Leicester and England), H Ellis (Leicester and England), J Hook (Ospreys and Wales)