Lions lose bite as injuries take toll

By CHRIS HEWETT

COFFS HARBOUR - Graham Henry flew to Australia a little under a month ago with an idea of a team capable of winning the crucial first test against the Wallabies maturing slowly but surely in some far-flung corner of his mind.

That idea began to disintegrate the moment he set foot on the island continent, and has now collapsed entirely.

Having been forced to erase Lawrence Dallaglio, Dan Luger, Will Greenwood and Mike Catt from his thoughts, the Lions coach will go to The Gabba on Saturday without Iain Balshaw at fullback and without Neil Back on the openside flank.

No one, least of all Henry, bargained for the extent of the personnel fall-out that has undermined the tourists' best-laid plans since they put 116 points on Western Australia in their opening match.

Balshaw's loss of confidence, painfully evident during Tuesday's limp victory over the amateurs of New South Wales Country in Coffs Harbour, has resulted in a call-up for Matthew Perry, his Bath clubmate.

At the same time, Back's untimely rib injury has created a priceless opportunity for a second Leicester loose forward, Martin Corry. Successful touring hinges on two things: form and fitness.

At the moment, the Lions are struggling for both.

Perry's inclusion was well signposted before the Coffs Harbour match. Henry tacitly admitted that, in selecting Balshaw for that game, he was opening the door of the Last Chance Saloon and pointing the blond bombshell of English rugby in the direction of the bar.

Once Balshaw failed to stand his round, so to speak, the issue was settled.

"Matt has played well on tour; Iain has been a little off the pace," explained the coach yesterday.

"What is wrong with Iain? I wish I knew. I suppose he is still going through an apprenticeship in international rugby, and we're talking about a very high level of competition here. I'd say Matt has been the more comfortable player on this trip, but then, he's won more caps as England's full-back than any player in history."

It was Back's demise, temporary but debilitating all the same, that sent a forest of eyebrows into orbit.

The diminutive breakaway damaged his ribs during last weekend's wild set-to with New South Wales at the Sydney Football Stadium and, although he might conceivably have recovered in time for active service at The Gabba, his enforced absence from training was considered too serious a hindrance.

Richard Hill, the form back-rower in the party as well as the most flexible, will play on the open side, just as he did against the Springboks on the 1997 tour, with Corry at blind side and Scott Quinnell at No 8.

Corry could scarcely believe his luck when the team was announced, but there is more to his sudden and wholly unexpected appearance in a Lions Test XV than a liberal helping of good fortune.

Those who felt he should have been selected in Henry's initial party were not remotely surprised when, having replaced the injured Scot Simon Taylor early in the tour, he turned in strong back-to-back performances in Queensland.

He was terrific on Tuesday, too – one of the few Lions who looked sufficiently interested to put up a hand for Test consideration. Back may well return for the remainder of the series, but Corry deserves his cap.

Henry dismissed the popular assumption that Back's misfortune has handed the Wallabies, armed as they are with the dynamic ball-winning qualities of the dreadlocked George Smith, a clear advantage in the loose.

"We've named a strong back row," he insisted. "It has experience, and it has extra line-out strength with Corry involved. Hill plays all his club rugby at No 7, so he is no stranger to the position. I don't think this changes our attitude in the slightest."

All the same, Hill will have to think on his feet and scavenge like a dog if he is to keep Smith under lock and key. Their contest will be central to the outcome.

As expected, the 22-man squad is English dominated. Both Ireland and Wales have three players in the starting lineup, while Tom Smith flies the flag for Scotland after beating the Swansea prop, Darren Morris, to the loosehead berth.

Smith's slow start to the tour – he suffered all manner of indignities against the Queensland President's XV in Townsville – had left Morris in pole position, but the Welshman went missing in action in Sydney last weekend, thereby confirming the coaching team's suspicion that he might be a little too conciliatory for the job in hand.

Meanwhile, Rod Macqueen, the Wallaby coach, unveiled a characteristically resourceful, all-purpose line-up under the captaincy of the great John Eales.

Macqueen had few decisions to ponder once Eales, Chris Latham and Joe Roff were declared fit.

Nathan Grey, who made an impressively rumbustious if not terribly subtle contribution to Australia A's victory over the Lions in Gosford, has beaten the fragile Elton Flatley to the second five-eights spot, while Owen Finegan, a very hefty item indeed, has regained the blindside position from Matt Cockbain after suspension.

Teams:

Lions: Matt Perry, Dafydd James, Brian O'Driscoll, Rob Henderson, Jason Robinson, Jonny Wilkinson, Rob Howley, Scott Quinnell, Richard Hill, Martin Corry, Danny Grewcock, Martin Johnson (captain), Phil Vickery, Keith Wood, Tom Smith.

Reserves: Jason Leonard, Gordon Bulloch, Colin Charvis, Martyn Williams, Matt Dawson, Austin Healey, Iain Balshaw.

Australia: Chris Latham, Andrew Walker, Daniel Herbert, Nathan Grey, Joe Roff, Stephen Larkham, George Gregan, Toutai Kefu, George Smith, Owen Finegan, John Eales (captain), David Giffin, Glenn Panoho, Jeremy Paul, Nick Stiles.

Reserves: Michael Foley, Ben Darwin, Matt Cockbain, David Lyons, Chris Whitaker, Elton Flatley, Matthew Burke.

- INDEPENDENT