Warren Gatland’s coaching career has been characterised by taking risks. If he is not quite a reckless riverboat gambler, he is certainly the kind of person who is comfortable pushing all his chips into the middle of the table when he senses a winning hand is in play.

From handing out five new caps as Ireland coach in a win-or-bust Six Nations game in 2000 – launching the international careers of Ronan O’Gara, Peter Stringer, Shane Horgan, Simon Easterby and John Hayes – to making Sam Warburton the captain of both Wales and the Lions when his age ought to have counted against him, the Kiwi has always been comfortable backing youth.

When it comes to veterans, he doesn’t duck a big call either. Search for O’Driscoll, Brian, in the index of Gatland’s autobiography if you need a refresher on that one.

This summer in South Africa, we are seeing the opposite side to the decision to cull Ireland’s greatest player from a Lions matchday squad – and it could have an equally big bearing on the Test-series outcome.

Twenty-one days after leaving Murrayfield with a dislocated shoulder, his tour over and his captaincy passed on to Conor Murray, Alun Wyn Jones has made a miraculous recovery to take his place on the bench this Saturday for the final warm-up game against the Stormers.

Whether it turns out to be an inspired call to bring back the touring party’s one true leader, a hasty decision that could damage the chance of victory or somewhere in between will be decided over the next few weeks, but there are a few things we do know now.

We know that from what we saw from Eben Etzebeth, Franco Mostert and pals in their South Africa ‘A’ disguises on Wednesday night, an undercooked Springbok is no easier to tame than the beasts that roamed around Japan en route to World Cup glory in 2019.

We know that a 36-year-old suffered a shoulder injury three weeks ago that, stunning recovery aside, raises serious questions about whether he has the power to mix it with the beefiest pack in world rugby.

On the other hand, we also know that Jones’ on-pitch leadership would be as valuable as his ballast in the collisions. Notice the muddled thinking as Owen Farrell tried to talk to referee Jaco Peyper against South Africa ‘A’, even with on-field captain Conor Murray nearby. And there seemed to be a decision-making deficit as the Lions consistently attempted to quick-tap-and-go their way over the line against a ravenous Springbok rearguard.

There are pluses and minuses to sending the AWJ bat signal back across the hemispheres but for now Jones is firmly in Test-match contention – provided he can prove himself with a cameo against the Stormers this weekend.

“We wouldn’t have brought himself out unless he was 100pc fit,” Gatland said. “That was part of the thing that he went back to Wales, rehabbed, and has been taking a full part in Welsh training. We’ve been looking very closely at a number of videos of Welsh training sessions he has taken a part in. If the medical team hadn’t passed him fully fit, he wouldn’t be here.

“We feel that if he’s going to put himself in contention, he needs 20 minutes. So we had that conversation with him. He has travelled and arrived today but if he’s in contention for next week, he needs to have a run.”

Jones’ bench inclusion is the big talking point, but Saturday is also massive for the four Irish Lions in the starting team – as well as the others who will be nervously watching how their positional rivals fare.

Gatland has suggested that there could be as much as 10 Test places still up for grabs heading into this weekend. Alun Wyn Jones is vying for one, but Robbie Henshaw, Jack Conan, Tadhg Beirne and Tadhg Furlong have every bit as much to play for against the Stormers.

“The important thing is now we are together, the squad is just one team, it’s about looking solely at the individuals and making sure we are picking the best players – there’ll be nothing spoken about where they come from, whether it’s England, Scotland or Wales or Ireland,” Gatland said.

“It’ll be just about putting out the best possible 15 and the best 23 to do a job.”