Hard work starts here, says Dallaglio

As a three-time Lion, Lawrence Dallaglio knows a thing or two about the opening game on tour but even for a man of his great experience, playing Saturday’s opener against the Barbarians in Hong Kong makes for a unique occasion.

The former England number 8 toured with the Lions in 1997, on the last successful Test campaign, in 2001 in Australia and in 2005 in New Zealand when the opening game was also his farewell, a dislocated ankle in the first 10 minutes against Bay of Plenty in Rotorua bringing his third tour to a swift and brutal end.

“I went to help Brian O’Driscoll with a tackle and got my leg caught in the wrong place and snapped my ankle, dislocated it,” Dallaglio said of his 2005 tour yesterday, having flown to Hong Kong as a Land Rover ambassador.