Wounded Lions to face Test of pride

Such are the various rumblings and rumours concerning the catalogue of injuries which have afflicted the Lions that one half expects them to go out on the Stadium Australia pitch today so patched up they'll be doing a passable imitation of Egyptian mummies. On Thursday the whisper was that in addition to Brian O'Driscoll (bruised leg/dead leg), Rob Henderson (fluid on the knee) and Jonny Wilkinson (leg injury) taking curtailed parts in training, Scott Quinnell's knee injury forced him to break down. By yesterday the word was that Austin Healey - who is scheduled to play his 51st game of the season today - had broken down with a back injury and was definitely out.

Donal Lenihan promptly said Healey was fine at the final press conference though doubts about the winger lingered. Meantime, Lenihan did confirm that confirmed Will Greenwood had suffered a reaction to the ankle injury which had sidelined him for over a fortnight (so joining Rob Howley, Richard Hill and Neil Jenkins as this week's confirmed casualties), and his place on the bench would be taken by Mark Taylor.

As to what the contingency plans were for a back-up scrum-half to Matt Dawson in the event of Healey being ruled out, coach Graham Henry said they had been discussed at but he preferred not to divulge them. A strong whisper here was that Ronan O'Gara had stood in at scrum-half in yesterday's final closed session, with the backs, so might therefore be third-choice scrum-half and as well as third-choice out-half today. Presumably not simultaneously.

Furthermore , it's believed Scottish scrum-half Andy Nicol and Welsh scrum-half Rupert Moon have been mentioned as possible last minute call-ups given both happen to be in Sydney this week.

The pack could get a bit thinnish by the end of the match too, with two injuries in the back five liable to leave them with no specialist number-four jumper in the second- row and two opensides in the back- row.

There's a palpable make-do and mend look to the Lions for this overdue finale to an 11-month season and Grahanm Henry was perhaps partially getting his excuses in early yesterday when responding to the disruptions caused by Healey's withdrawal from training yesterday. "We're used to it. There's a lot of wear and tear. The guys have played 11 months of rugby which quite frankly is ludicrous. You just have to put up with those sort of situations over the weeks of this tour because it's unavoidable so you've just got to do your best to get around those sort of things."

The hope must be that somehow they will pull through it. And if ever there was an occasion to make them dig deep then , this is it.

"I don't think they get any bigger. Perhaps the World Cup final is a bigger game, but they don't get much bigger than this. I think it's something you'll look back on over the years and July 14th, 2001, the Olympic Stadium in Sydney is going to be an important occasion for all involved. So I think it's quite monumental really. It'll be historic no matter which way it goes."

A week ago Henry reckoned "the top three inches" would be the decisive factor. Less so this week probably, on the premise that it's now a win-or-bust, one-off game. More likely this will be a case of sheer desire, of who wants it most, and who digs the deepest at the very end.

The mood is discernibly better this week. They can see the finishing line and the prize. The Lions will assuredly play better then than they did last Saturday and, as we've said before, any team with the likes of Keith Wood and Martin Johnson (who suffered his first defeat since October last Saturday) must have a great chance.

"We will win because we'll play better," said Wood yesterday. "It's as basic and simple as that. We'll play better because we'll have to and because it's our last game together." Indeed, the latter factor will be a powerful spur, every bit as motivational as the Wallabies wanting to send Rod Macqueen riding off into the sunset like a true hero.

The Lions will probably have to hang tougher than at any stage this season, as George Gregan is liable to turn them repeatedly as he did last week with clever little kicks and is then bound to get their continuity game going at some stage.

The Aussie media seems a little down in the dumps about their darling Stephen Larkham being ruled out, but Elton Flatley is a natural out-half who takes the ball pretty flat and moves it quickly.

The Lions haven't troubled the scoreboard in the last half-hour of the two Tests so far, and their best chance of winning would again seem to be from the front. Certainly the Wallabies reminded us last week what awesome front-runners they are.

Before the series began the feeling here was that it somehow would go right down to the wire, and might not even be decided until the last ten 10 minutes of the third test. That might still happen. So, too, though the initial prognosis that Australia would edge it 2-1, after erroneously thinking the Lions might close out the series last week. And it could be that the tourists have missed their best chance.

Perhaps the Wallabies aren't as good as they were allowed to look in the second- half last week. Perhaps the Lions' greater individual skills and the leadership of a chosen few, coupled with one last monumental collective effort in their last outing together, will yield a truly famous win. But on the face of things, the Lions have a patchwork and mend look to them and have yet to put one compelling 80-minute performance together, whereas the Wallabies appear to be the more durable looking outfit over the 80 or 90 minutes.

Either way this could be what epic sport is made of.

Third Test: Australia v Lions (10.0 a.m. Irish time)

AUSTRALIA: M Burke (NSW); A Walker (ACT), D Herbert (Queensland), N Grey (NSW), J Roff (ACT); E Flatley (Queensland), G Gregan (ACT); N Stiles (Queensland), M Foley (Queensland), R Moore (NSW), J Harrison (ACT Brumbies), J Eales (Queensland, capt), O Finegan (ACT), T Kefu (Queensland), G Smith (ACT).

Replacements: B Cannon (NSW), B Darwin (ACT), M Cockbain (Queensland), D Lyons (NSW), C Whitaker (NSW), J Holbeck (ACT), C Latham (Queensland).

LIONS: M Perry (England); A Healey (England), B O'Driscoll (Ireland), R Henderson (Ireland), J Robinson (England); J Wilkinson (England), M Dawson (England); T Smith (Scotland), K Wood (Ireland), P Vickery (England), M Johnson (England, capt), D Grewcoc k (England), M Corry (England), S Quinnell (Wales), N Back (England).

Replacements: D Morris (Wales), D West (England), C Charvis (Wales), M Williams (Wales), R O'Gara (Ireland), M Taylor (Wales), I Balshaw (England).

REFEREE: Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand).

PREVIOUS RESULTS: Australia 13 Lions 29; Australia 35 Lions 14.

OVERALL RECORD: Played 19, Australia 4 wins, Lions 15 wins.