Barritt sure reinforcements will not be caught lagging

England international Barritt will be part of a Lions threequarter unit compiled from such far-flung destinations as Los Angeles, Buenos Aires and Japan.

Barritt flew to Sydney from a North American holiday, while his centre partner against the Brumbies in Canberra, Billy Twelvetrees, and wing Christian Wade both left England’s Argentina tour early, and former Wales wing Shane Williams was summoned from Japan, where he now plays for Mitsubishi Dynaboars.

A combination of injuries and a need to give players sufficient recovery time prompted a call for reinforcements as the Lions build towards Saturday’s first Test match against Australia in Brisbane.

Barritt, Wade and Williams all trained for the first time yesterday, but the Saracens centre said: “For all three of us, when there is something like this your body can just run on adrenalin.

“The sheer weight of what this game means to each and all of us is enough to give you motivation for a decade.

“The mind is stronger than the body, and if you want to be there and you want to go out there and do a little bit for the side and not let the team down, you can achieve that.

“When Andy Farrell (Lions assistant coach) phoned me in the States, he did indicate I would be starting, so I just needed to get my head around that and be prepared. On the flight, I knew it was about getting my body-clock up to speed.”

Barritt has not played since he suffered an ankle injury during Saracens’ Heineken Cup semi-final defeat against Toulon seven weeks ago but he added: “I always knew I needed to keep fit just on the off-chance that something did happen.

“Credit to the guys at Saracens, they stayed with me all the way up to June 5 and helped me do my rugby rehabilitation and got everything right.

“It has only been the last two weeks that I’ve been on vacation, and I’ve tried to do a few little things when I could.”

Now he is with the Lions, Barritt is determined to do everything he can to not only help preserve their 100 per cent tour record, but also provide a further filip ahead of the opening Test.

“The guys have performed fantastically, and it is up to us to carry the baton on Tuesday,” he said.

“It is a huge motivation for us to keep that winning momentum going, and if there is a good victory tomorrow it further adds to the confidence of the whole squad.

“The guys involved have just got to focus on this game and think of nothing else.”