Lions 'must make the right choice of skipper'

CLIVE WOODWARD is in no hurry to appoint a captain for next summer's Lions tour to New Zealand but insisted Martin Johnson's successor must be a Test certainty.

Ireland centre Brian O'Driscoll is the current favourite to head the cream of British and Irish rugby against the All Blacks - but that owes as much to a lack of any outstanding alternatives as his own leadership skills.

Injury and a loss of form casts a shadow over England World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson while Scotland's Gordon Bulloch and Wales' Gareth Thomas are newcomers to international captaincy and are unlikely choices.