Dan Sheehan insists his British and Irish Lions will use their pride in the jersey to match the determination of a Western Force side who are targeting a famous victory in Perth.
Lions captain Maro Itoje has been stood down for the opening fixture on Australian soil so Ireland hooker Sheehan takes charge of Andy Farrell鈥檚 men at Optus Stadium on Saturday.
Henry Pollock makes his first start for the elite of British and Irish rugby after being picked at number eight while Finn Russell, the early favourite to take the playmaking duties against the Wallabies, is given his maiden outing of the tour at fly-half.
The Lions know they are being targeted by Super Rugby teams eager to make history but Sheehan, who skippered Ireland against Wales in the Six Nations, declares they will not have a monopoly on passion.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to know where the opposition鈥檚 mindset is and how they approach a game that only comes around every 12 years, like it does for the Western Force,鈥 said the 26-year-old, who is one of nine players in the matchday 23 set to make their Lions debuts.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure the Force will be 150 per cent of what they usually are. They will be flying into it and that bit of extra hunger can produce some powerful things.
鈥淭hey would have been eyeing this game up since they probably first stepped into that Western Force change room. It鈥檒l mean an awful lot to them.
鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 want them to think that they鈥檙e going to be hungrier than us. We have to demonstrate back our own mindset because this will be the first time I will be putting on the jersey, along with a few other lads.鈥
The Force is the second game of a tour that began with a 28-24 defeat by Argentina in Dublin and while matches will soon come thick and fast, chances to impress Lions boss Andy Farrell will be limited.
Farrell, however, has cautioned over the danger of players wanting a Test place too much.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 desperation and that鈥檚 what we don鈥檛 want because desperation leads to people being distorted in the way they go about the game,鈥 he said.
There are two survivors from the side that faced the Pumas in Sione Tuipulotu and Tadhg Beirne, although they have been switched to inside centre and blindside flanker respectively.
Three-time Lions tourist Tadhg Furlong is given the chance to improve his match fitness with a start at tighthead prop following a season that has been heavily interrupted by calf injuries.
鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 a big bang moment when you鈥檙e out for six months and you鈥檙e trying to scramble back, they were all short-term injuries,鈥 Furlong said.
鈥淚t was tough because as the weeks went on we still thought we had a fighting chance for getting back for Leinster at the end of the season, but it just wasn鈥檛 right. It would have been very risky to chance something.
鈥淎s desperate as you are to get on to the pitch, you also have a situation where you can鈥檛 push.
鈥淚n some ways you can live with yourself because you鈥檙e doing everything you can to get out there. When you can鈥檛, you can鈥檛.鈥