The Japan Times - Wallabies veteran White relishing 'unreal' Lions opportunity

The veteran missed out on a chance to face the best of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales when they last visited Australia in 2013, with a shoulder injury shattering his dreams.

But he will lead out Western Force as skipper in Perth on Saturday in the Lions' opening tour game to finally fulfil his ambition.

"It's proper spine-tingling stuff," said the 35-year-old, adding that memories of his previous injury had come back in recent weeks.

"Don't get injured, that's just been going through my mind. Twelve years ago I got injured and missed that opportunity, and it's been in the back of my mind for a long time now.

"To get the opportunity to play against the Lions is unreal. It's a real dream come true, words don't really do it justice."

White, who has been capped 71 times by the Wallabies, is still part of the Australia squad and is set to feature in three Tests against the Lions, likely as the finishing scrum-half.

Before that he has a massive job to steer Force to an unlikely victory.

They were crushed by the Lions 69-17 in 2013 and failed to reach the Super Rugby knockouts this season, finishing ninth on the 11-team ladder -- the worst-performing Australian club.

They are also without three key Wallabies in Carlo Tizzano, Jeremy Williams and Harry Potter.

But with six other current internationals in the starting XV on Saturday, White is confident they can put up a decent fight.

"I don't think we need any extra motivation for this game," he said.

"You sprinkle a little bit more extra motivation by going and telling us we're not going to be competitive and that we're no good without a handful of players.

"So we're keen to show what we can do and we've certainly got some guys back that can help that cause.

"And I think we've got a really, really strong side, and we look forward to testing that against the best of the North, the best of four international sides against us. It's exciting."

T.Sato--JT