WARREN GATLAND HAS confirmed that Alun Wyn Jones resumed his position as Lions tour captain after joining the squad in South Africa this week.

Conor Murray – who stepped into the role after Jones’ shoulder injury against Japan three weekends ago had seemingly ruled him out of the tour – moved aside as tour captain, with Gatland saying the Irish scrum-half was “comfortable” with the situation.

Jones made his comeback on the pitch in this evening’s 49-3 win over the Stormers, delivering an energetic 26 minutes off the bench to set himself up for a start in the first Test against the Springboks next weekend.

If Gatland and his coaching staff deem Jones to be ready for a start against the Boks, he will captain the team. If Jones doesn’t start, it’s not clear who will captain the Lions.

“The captain will depend on the side we name,” said Gatland this evening. “Alun Wyn has come back into that role [as tour captain].

“Conor is comfortable, he stepped in to do it and Alun Wyn was named as tour captain before. It’s brilliant that he has come back and Conor, he’s the first to admit that it was more than comfortable for Alun Wyn to come back.

“It’s a measure of him [Murray] as a person as well. He wasn’t prepared to give up his bedroom suite though, he got the captain’s bedroom suite.

“It was easy in terms of that and we’ll see how the preparation goes next week. If Alun Wyn is involved or whatever… if he’s not involved, then it will be someone else who potentially leads the team.”

Ali Price was lively for the Lions against the Stormers. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

Murray is still the favourite to start for the Lions at scrum-half and has plenty of credit in the bank with Gatland, but Scotland’s Ali Price has delivered a few eye-catching performances on this tour.

It’s worth noting that they have come against weak opposition, whereas Murray has started against Japan and South Africa A – the only two genuine games the Lions have had.

Nonetheless, Price’s creative skills in attack around the breakdown have given Gatland some food for thought, although Wales’ Gareth Davies hasn’t been able to impress.

“Ali has done well and Gareth, probably from his own feeling, probably didn’t play as well as he would have liked last week,” said Gatland. “I thought he was good coming off the bench [this evening].

“There were probably a few box kicks [this evening] that went a little bit too far and we wanted to compete a little bit more, so that’s an area we need to tidy up.

“But he [Price] has looked sharp and when he started to run a little bit he put them under a bit of pressure, particularly from third and fourth phase. He had a nice break and picked up some runners as well, so he’s been excellent. I have been really pleased with his performances.”

Meanwhile, Robbie Henshaw made his return from a hamstring injury for the Lions against the Stormers this evening, getting through 57 minutes of action before being called ashore.

Gatland said that it always the intention to bring him off at that stage, while the Lions boss indicated that he will be expecting more from Henshaw if the Ireland centre starts the first Test.

“We planned to give Robbie that amount of time, we didn’t want him to go the full 80,” said Gatland. “We wanted him to have a hit-out.

“I think it was obvious that he needed the run and again there were a couple of things in his game that he’ll look at and given his experience and what he’s able to do, I think he’ll be better for that if he gets that opportunity next week.

 “So he definitely needed the game. He was tidy without being brilliant but I was pleased with the way, as a team, keeping them tryless and we defended exceptionally and he was a big part of that, and working in terms of organizing that midfield defence and that short side as well.”