Warburton returns to Warren Gatland’s side for the Wellington clash in a do-or-die encounter which the Lions must win to stay in the hunt for a series win.
Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau, Jonathan Davies and Liam Williams all join their Wales counterpart Warburton in the starting XV with Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell paired together at fly-half and inside centre.
“If we lose on Saturday the series is over. It’s a big challenge for us as players and coaches because everything is on the line,” Gatland said. “We are happy with the mix we have selected for this game.
“Having Johnny and Owen at 10 and 12 gives us a bit more of an attacking option. They haven’t started together yet, but they went well as a combination against the Crusaders.
“It gives us two ball players and two kicking options either side of the ruck and we also have the left-footed options of Jonathan Davies and Elliot Daly.
“In the forwards we wanted to bring in a couple more forward carriers and give some other boys a chance. We felt there was an opportunity to bring Sam into the side.
“Both he and Maro Itoje had a big impact off the bench last week and we need to improve our work over the ball.
“It’s a tough call on Peter O’Mahony, but last week the All Blacks were dominant over the ball and deserved to win. We need to stop that.”
Lions boss Gatland has selected an experienced side to take on New Zealand. The back three remains unchanged with England wings Anthony Watson and Elliot Daly joining Williams.
Farrell moves into midfield, partnerting Wales centre Davies, with Sexton alongside Irish counterpart Conor Murray at halfback.
In the forwards, Mako Vunipola, Jamie George and Tadgh Furlong continue in the front row with Jones joined by Itoje at lock.
In the back-row, Faletau is at No 8 alongside flankers Warburton and Sean O’Brien.
Wales stars Ken Owens and Rhys Webb are among Gatland’s replacements.
“Sam has been brilliant. He knows he was a little bit short of game time, but we need to be competing at the breakdown,” Gatland said.
“He is as good as any player in world player in terms of getting over the ball, securing turnovers, slowing ball down or winning penalties.
“He’s well aware what his role is this weekend. I hope his combination with Sean O’Brien works well, I think it’s a good pairing.”
While the Lions have made four changes, All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen has also shuffled his pack.
Full-back Ben Smith will sit out the rest of the series with concussion, while Anton Lienert-Brown and Waisake Naholo come into the back line. Lienert-Brown replaces the injured Ryan Crotty at centre, Israel Dagg shifts to full-back in place of Smith, and Naholo comes in on the wing.
Hansen is wary of a Lions side who have it all on the line this weekend.
“Every Lions team, when it has the talent they’ve got at their disposal, is going to be hard to beat. It just comes down to who plays well enough on the day,” he said.
“We’ve got a talented side, if we prepare well, we are hard to beat. And they are no different. They’ve got plenty of good players. How they choose to play with that talent will be interesting.
“Warren is going to second-guess what we do, so are we going to play off nine again? Then we have to second-guess if we play off nine, are they going to shut that door, and if they shut the door, what other door have they just opened?”
“It’s going to be a really interesting game and I’m looking forward to it.”
All Blacks: Israel Dagg; Waisake Naholo, Anton Lienert-Brown, Sonny Bill Williams, Rieko Ioane; Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; Joe Moody, Codie Taylor, Owen Franks; Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock; Jerome Kaino, Sam Cane, Kieran Read (capt).
Reps: Nathan Harris, Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Scott Barrett, Ardie Savea, TJ Perenara, Aaron Cruden, Ngani Laumape.
Lions: Liam Williams; Anthony Watson, Jonathan Davies, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly; Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray; Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Tadhg Furlong, Maro Itoje, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton (capt), Taulupe Faletau, Sean O’Brien.
Reps: Ken Owens, Jack McGrath, Kyle Sinckler, Courtney Lawes, CJ Stander, Rhys Webb, Ben Te’o, Jack Nowell.
