TOBY Faletau and Dan Lydiate will start together in the British and Irish Lions back row for their tour opener against the Barbarians on Saturday.

Newport Gwent Dragons number eight Faletau and former teammate Lydiate, who is leaving for Racing Metro next season, will link up with openside Justin Tipuric in Hong Kong.

The Ospreys flanker starts in the absence of captain Sam Warburton, who has a minor knee injury, with Ireland lock Paul O'Connell leading the side.

There are nine Welshman in the line-up and the match-day 23 features 17 players who are on their first Lions tour.

Lions head Coach Warren Gatland said: "I am really excited by the first selection of the tour.

"Naturally, it comprises largely those players not involved in last weekend's Aviva Premiership and RaboDirect PRO12 finals, and we have a lot of players making their debuts for the Lions.

"At the same time we have a hard core of experience, with six former Lions sharing 430 caps between them and 19 Lions Tests.

"There are also some proven combinations, such as the Welsh centre pairing and back-row.

"Some of the boys who played last weekend are on the bench as cover, and generally everyone in the camp is raring to go."

Lions: S Hogg (Scotland); A Cuthbert (Wales), J Davies (Wales), J Roberts (Wales), S Maitland (Scotland); O Farrell (England), M Phillips (Wales); M Vunipola (England), R Hibbard (Wales), A Jones (Wales), R Gray (Scotland), P O'Connell (Ireland, capt), D Lydiate (Wales), J Tipuric (Wales), T Faletau (Wales).

Replacements: T Youngs (England), C Healy (Ireland), M Stevens (England), A W Jones (Wales), J Heaslip (Ireland), C Murray (Ireland), J Sexton (Ireland), G North (Wales).