'Smashing Lions' says Campese

SYDNEY - David Campese warned yesterday that the British Lions were planning to "smash" the Wallabies.

The legendary Australian wing said the Lions, who start their three-test tour in June, would play a similar type of "steamroller" game through the forwards that they employed during the 2-1 series victory on their most recent tour of Australia, 12 years ago.

"So let me issue the warning to the Wallabies now: the Lions are coming to smash you," Campese wrote in the Australian newspaper yesterday. "There will be no subtleties about their game.

"The omission of [Scottish] playmaker Gregor Townsend shows me that the fancy-Dan stuff is of no interest to them.

"They want to steamroller the Wallabies with a committed, fired-up pack, play for field position, get into the Australian half and bang over the penalty goals."

Campese said people remembered his pass behind his own line in the third test in Sydney in 1989 which rebounded off fullback Greg Martin's shoulder and allowed Lions winger Ieuan Evans to pounce - but they did not remember the "brutal Lions side."

"The Lions will suspect they have the edge on the Wallabies up front, and they are also clever enough to realise the most potent weapons in the Australian side are out wide.

"So the Lions will be happy keeping things close to the pack, just like they did in 1989."

- NZPA