Watch out Sam Warburton. Watch out Peter O’Mahony.
With the Lions down to 14 men, midway through a tense first half against the Chiefs, James Haskell was called ashore.
The England blindside was sacrificed to get Scottish prop on the pitch for a crucial scrum after Joe Marler had been sin-binned for a foolish shoulder bump.
That meant the Lions needed someone to fill in at blindside for the scrum. With the Chiefs looking to win the scrum against the head to ramp up the pressure, the Lions turned to Payne. And didn’t he look up for it…
The scrum needed to be re-set before the Lions got a massive shove on.
Dan Cole was the chief driver but Dell started to heave forward and Payne was right behind him.
A penalty was awarded and the Lions could clear their lines. You better believe CJ Stander appreciated Payne’s efforts.
Jared Payne getting the job done in the scrum!#CHIvBIL pic.twitter.com/eoT9fmZt0n
— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) June 20, 2017
Lions coach Warren Gatland declared, before kick-off, that his Test team was not set in stone and jerseys were still up for grabs.
Payne would prefer 13 or 15 but he looks like he could do a job at 6 too.
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