LIONS TOUR:LIONS TOURS are notorious for exacting a casualty list more in keeping with a hospital emergency ward and this tour has been no exception. All told, an unlucky 13 players have had their tours either cancelled or cut short prematurely, one to suspension and a dozen to injuries, three before departing and a further eight while in South Africa.
Ironically, given the bitterness and comments made in the fall out of last Saturday’s bruiser in Pretoria, this tour was undermined in stature to some extent by the phoney war that constituted most of the warm-up games until the Southern Kings sought to soften the tourist sup five days before the first Test.
And while there have not been the early high profile casualties of four years ago akin to Lawrence Dallaglio in the first match and Brian O’Driscoll in the first Test, arguably the ultra-physical South African opposition exacts a bigger toll than any other.
The well-travelled, New Zealand-born English centre Riki Flutey, who today becomes only the third Kiwi to play for the Lions, revealed during the week that on entering the Lions’ dressing-room after last Saturday’s second Test in Loftus Versfeld that he had never seen a changing room like it in his life, such was the array of players receiving treatment.
Perhaps compounding the ravages of the matches themselves has been the intensity of the training as well.
For example, the Welsh squad are used to undergoing two shorter, sharper and more intense sessions than the Irish players are used to, but the flip side is that the Welsh players have not been accustomed to the one, slightly longer session that the Irish players sometimes undergo. In any event, four of those injured, including Lee Byrne, suffered their injuries in training.
A feature of this tour has been the weekly Sunday morning medical bulletins delivered by the Lions’ head doctor Dr James Robson with as much of his engaging trademark wit and bonhomie as he can muster. With each passing week the good doctor’s updates have been becoming longer and longer.
Scotland’s English-born national team doctor is on his fifth Lions tour, which makes his comments of last Sunday morning all the more stark. “I saw one quote this morning describing the game as a fairly brutal game. It certainly was a fairly brutal game. It’s not the biggest casualty list that I’ve had, but perhaps one of the more distressing because the further you get into these tours the more you learn to love these guys. And to lose two of our most colourful if not talkative characters in Gethin (Jenkins) and Adam (Jones) is fairly distressing. Yeah, as a casualty list goes,” he added a tad mournfully, “it’s not something that I’m happy with.”
COUNTING THE COST - THE FALLEN WARRIORS
Tomás O'Leary:Just three days after being selected the scrumhalf became the first casualty when he suffered a fractured left ankle in Munster's Magners League clash with the Scarlets at Musgrave Park. Scotland's Mike Blair was called up.
Alan Quinlan:A week later, Quinlan was cited in the aftermath of Munster's Heineken Cup semi-final defeat to Leinster for making contact with Leo Cuillen's eye area. England's Tom Croft was called up.
Jerry Flannery:On the second day of pre-tour training, the Munster hooker suffered torn ligaments in his left elbow when being cleared out in a rucking drill. Scotland's Ross Ford was called up rather than Rory Best.
Tom Shanklin:The Cardiff centre damaged his shoulder in the end-of-season Magners League game to Leinster and was ruled out before the squad even assembled.
Leigh Halfpenny:The young Welsh utility back had to return early from the tour to Cardiff to undergo treatment for a thigh injury. James Hook was initially called in. Halfpenny rejoined the tour and played against the Cheetahs, but suffered a thigh muscle injury in training which ruled him out. Gordon D'Arcy was called up.
Stephen Ferris: The Ulster flanker, who had looked a shoo-in for the Test side, sustained a knee injury during a Monday afternoon session, tearing his medial collateral ligament. Welsh skipper Ryan Jones was called up.
Ryan Jones:Jones was ruled out of the tour within a day of arriving. Having twice sustained concussion while playing for Wales during their recent tour to North America, Jones was sidelined for a mandatory three weeks.
Euan Murray:The Scotland tighthead prop sustained an ankle injury in the match against the Southern Kings and was replaced by John Hayes. Further concerns in the propping department meant a subsequent call-up for Wasps and England loose-head Tim Payne.
Lee Byrne:The Ospreys' and Welsh fullback Lee Byrne was ruled out when he sustained an injury to his left thumb in training, thereby compounding the recurrence of a strained foot injury in the first Test.
Brian O'Driscoll:The Ireland captain suffered concussion in the second Test and it soon became clear that he was not going to be ready for a return to action. He returned home on Wednesday.
Adam Jones:The Welsh tighthead dislocated his right shoulder during the second Test. He returned home with O'Driscoll for further specialist opinion and treatment.
Gethin Jenkins:He suffered a broken cheekbone in the same match and was also ruled out of the rest of the tour.
Jamie Roberts:The Welsh centre, one of the players of the tour, suffered a wrist injury which forced his departure early in the second half of the second Test. He was ultimately ruled out of consideration for the last Test on Thursday morning.
