Rugby: Lions may play indoor test against Australia

BY CHRIS HEWITT

The Australian Rugby Union has confirmed that the second Test of next summer's Lions tour will take place at the Colonial Stadium in Melbourne on 7 July, giving rise to the possibility of the match being played under cover.

The Lions manager, Donal Lenihan, has already signalled his concern at the prospect of the stadium roof being closed, but the Australians were delighted with the new venue when it hosted the world's first indoor match against South Africa last July.

Next year's tour will break a good deal of ground. The opening match against Western Australia and the first of the three Tests with the Wallabies will be played at Test cricket stadiums, the WACA in Perth and the Gabba in Brisbane respectively.

The final Test is scheduled for Stadium Australia in Sydney.

One venue that may soon disappear from the rugby circuit in McDiarmid Park, the Perth home of the Scottish football club St Johnstone.

Glasgow Caledonians, one of Scotland's two so-called super-clubs, had been using the ground for Heineken Cup and Welsh/Scottish League matches, but were disappointed at a measly crowd of 800 for the visit of Llanelli last weekend.

They will now play the vast majority of their games at Hughenden, a 5,300-capacity stadium in the west of the city.

"Had the Llanelli game been at Hughenden, we would have had between 3,500 and 4,000 spectators," said Andy Hilditch, the Caledonians marketing manager.

"The players love the pitch at McDiarmid, but they also need to feel wanted by appearing in front of decent crowds. We have tried to attract more support from Dundee and Perth, but it has become patently obvious that McDiarmid is a turn-off for the regular punters."