Midweekers want to impress, but test jerseys unlikely

Midweek skipper Gordon Bulloch says strong performances against Auckland tonight could help individual Lions to press their claims for a spot in the final rugby test against the All Blacks.

But Bulloch doesn't expect wholesale changes tomorrow when coach Sir Clive Woodward names the players who will be charged with preventing a 3-0 whitewash in Auckland on Saturday night.

He said the team that went down to the All Blacks in the second test in Wellington last weekend had showed "a lot of guts and pride" despite the 48-18 scoreline.

"It would be wrong to chop and change the side again and again," he said.

"From our point of view," he said of the midweek contingent, "if we play exceptionally well, there might be a chance of fighting our way into the 22. That's where our hope is."

Woodward made a raft of changes to his test line-up after the 21-3 first test loss in Christchurch.

They included giving Welsh winger Shane Williams and Irish lock Donncha O'Callaghan their first Lions caps after their part in the 109-6 drubbing of Manawatu last Tuesday.

Against Auckland, Bulloch will be captaining the tourists for the third time.

The hooker is one of three Scots in the tour party, none of whom has featured in the tests so far.

The others are halfback Chris Cusiter and flanker Jason White, who will make his debut for the Lions against Auckland after his call-up last week to replace injured Englishman Richard Hill.

A fourth Scot, No 8 Simon Taylor, had his tour ended before it began by a hamstring problem.

While there was disappointment in Scotland that only three rugby nations had so far been represented in the Lions' test sides, Bulloch had no gripes himself.

He said team selection was something players had to accept.

He recalled his experience of being on the 2001 tour of Australia, where he made his one and only test appearance for the Lions off the bench in the first-test win in Brisbane.

That campaign, under present All Black coach Graham Henry, imploded because of divisions within the camp and the Wallabies went on to take the series 2-1.

"We found out from four years ago that, if you start having splits and developing cliques, it's not good for both the midweek side and for the test side," he said.

"It's important to learn from that, to take that on board and then try to create togetherness in a squad of 51 players or whatever."

With the Lions also having lost the "fourth test" against New Zealand Maori, the midweek results have been one of their few on-field highlights.

They have beaten all four of the provincial opponents they have faced on a Tuesday or Wednesday, with only Auckland barring their way to a 100 per cent record.

Bulloch said that, while the Lions' primary goal of winning the test series hadn't eventuated, their second-stringers had build up a great rapport.

Combinations were gelling and that had led to increased confidence.

"We've been working well in the scrums and lineouts, and the backs have started to come right, especially against Manawatu," he said.

"Obviously the opposition last week wasn't the greatest, but we still had to put the points past them."

- NZPA