England coach Eddie Jones said Gatland has resorted to selecting players on the basis of "geographical proximity" rather than ability.
Temporary squad additions Gareth Davies, Kristian Dacey, Cory Hill, Tomas Francis, Allan Dell and Finn Russell, whose call-up has drawn strong criticism, will all warm the bench before leaving the tour next Wednesday.
"We are five games into the Tour and there is still a lot to play for", said Lions head coach Gatland.
Veteran All Black Jerome Kaino wasn't being dragged into a war of words with Lions coach Warren Gatland. "Warren's made it no secret this was his plan all along".
LEFT WING: George North is nowhere near his form of the 2013 tour.
"Then we'll go down to Auckland [for the first Test], there's a sea of red there".
"So ultimately it's to look after the Test squad, which is so important now at this stage of the series. I've been blessed to be around this long, and to get a second chance to play the Lions for the All Blacks will be a true blessing".
The Lions' defence has been built on aggressive line speed, big hits and an increased ability to slow down opposition ruck ball, which was particularly evident in last Saturday's win over the Maori All Blacks when the Lions regularly got over the ball, notably Sean O'Brien.
"It's about staying alive and making sure sometimes you'll get bumped but it's about backing your pace".
Saracens front-rower Vunipola hailed the Lions' progress, but also admitted another serious hike in performance will be required against the back-to-back world champion All Blacks. The larger squad should keep to a minimum the number of players having to play twice in a week. I think he's done pretty well so far on tour with not many opportunities.
Chelsea ready to spend £200m on new signings this summer
Antonio Conte is close to agreeing to sign a new contract at Chelsea after positive talks, according to Sky in Italy. The Blues meant to sell him this summer but had been concerned Conte's text would devalue Costa's transfer value.
It's the first test between New Zealand and British & Irish Lions.
Warburton continued his recovery with 17 minutes against the Maori All Blacks - as a replacement for Peter O'Mahony - but Gatland says the make-up of his back-row for next weekend's opening Test is still up for debate.
"There's no doubt that there's some pressure on certain players and certain combinations have gone well", said Gatland, when quizzed on Warburton's situation.
"We've raised it with the ref already.
It's part of the game in New Zealand, all New Zealand teams are doing it at the moment. we've just got to hope the referees, assistant referees and the TMOs pick up what's going on". Unfortunately he rolled his ankle a little bit so hadn't recovered in time.
"I was always confident about Owen Farrell being fit", said Gatland, of the England fly-half's quadriceps strain.
In terms of devaluing the shirt, I can see some people's point of view on that but we're here to win a test series.
"Leigh Halfpenny obviously took a knock on the weekend, so he's going through the Head Injury Assessment (HIA) protocols. Apart from that it's just bumps and bruises with some guys a little bit sore".
"There's an opportunity for Liam Williams to go and impress at full-back".
It is the back three where there is ambiguity and players have been charged with nailing the colours to the Test mast when they face the Chiefs on Tuesday. "We like to use the ball, we try to play a high-tempo, high-skilled game of footy".
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