Monday 15 May 2017 12:42, UK
Warren Gatland wants Lions captain Sam Warburton to sit out Cardiff Blues' upcoming European Champions Cup play-off.
Warburton, named skipper last month for the tour of New Zealand, has been out since damaging knee ligaments in early April.
And Gatland wants to keep the Wales flanker in the Lions training camp rather than allow him to turn out for the Blues against Stade Francais on Friday.
Victory in that game would mean a play-off final against Northampton or Connacht a week later, just three days before the Lions squad departs.
Gatland said: "It would be ideal for us if he didn't play for the Blues. Sam thinks he is okay at the moment. The plan is that he will stay with us and do some hard conditioning work with contact as well."
A Provisional Union XV provide the first opposition of the tour on June 3, live on Sky Sports, and Gatland will warn his players to expect a fight.
"The opposition teams will relish a Lions scalp and my challenge is to communicate that to the squad," he said.
"In the past, it was provincial teams, not Super Rugby sides, and they will see it as a chance to make a name for themselves, do something special, create a bit of history."
