Wellington: Tour captain Sam Warburton has been relegated to the bench for the British and Irish Lions clash against the Maori All Blacks on Saturday, just a week before the first Test.

Munster and Ireland’s Peter O’Mahony will take over as captain for a match the tourists regard as an “unofficial fourth Test”.

Warburton led the Lions to a disappointing 23-22 loss to the Highlanders midweek and coach Warren Gatland opted instead to hand flanker O’Mahony the skipper’s armband.

“Peter is a proven captain with Munster,” Gatland said ahead of the match in Rotorua.

“He never takes a backward step and we believe that those leadership qualities will serve us well on Saturday against a quality and determined Maori All Blacks team.” The Irishman is the fourth player to captain the Lions on tour after Warburton, Ken Owens and Alun Wyn Jones.

The tourists are looking to bounce back after their second defeat of the tour and Gatland’s selection against the Maori team is expected to be close to his first-choice Test side.

If it is, then losing the Test captaincy would be a huge blow to Warburton, who led the Lions to a series win in Australia in 2013 but has struggled for form recently after a run of injuries.

Gatland has shown previously that he will not shy away from big selection calls, famously dropping Irish legend Brian O’Driscoll for the series decider in 2013 and causing outrage in the Emerald Isle.

He has opted for an all-Irish combination at nine and 10 against the Maori, with Johnny Sexton starting ahead of Owen Farrell at fly-half and Conor Murray at scrum-half.

The starting side includes 11 players who started in the Lions’ gutsy 12-3 win over the Canterbury Crusaders, their most impressive display on tour so far.

“We need to play like we did last Saturday against the Crusaders,” assistant coach Neil Jenkins said.

“We’re a week out from the first Test so Saturday’s game against the Maori is huge for us, it’s like an unofficial fourth Test match.”

Leigh Halfpenny replaces the injured Stuart Hogg at fullback, while Liam Williams makes way for Anthony Watson on the wing.

However lock Wyn Jones, who captained against the Crusaders, did not even make the matchday 23, with Gatland preferring England’s Maro Itoje in the second row backed by Iain Henderson on the bench.

The three-Test series begins on June 24.