Stingers down Lions top guns

IT COULD have been a metaphor for the last week of this tour as Clive Woodward entered his latest press conference in the company of two doctors — but the men in white coats were there to deliver the latest injury updates on a battered British & Irish Lions squad.

The Lions have been forced to rule out both Gavin Henson and Jonny Wilkinson from Saturday’s third and final Test against New Zealand at Eden Park, the latter’s injury paving the way for Ronan O’Gara to make his Test debut four years after first pulling on the red shirt.

Head coach Woodward delayed naming his team by 24 hours in order to assess the fitness of his injury-hit squad in the wake of bruising encounters against both the All Blacks last Saturday in Wellington and Auckland on Tuesday night.