Parling promises Lions will pick themselves up for shoot-out

Geoff Parling has no doubt the British and Irish Lions will pick themselves up off the canvas for next Saturday’s Test series decider against Australia.

The Lions headed to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast yesterday, setting up camp in the surfers’ resort of Noosa.

But the weather – showers and leaden skies – probably matched their mood after the Wallabies squared the series.

“It’s going to take the whole squad to pull together,” England lock Parling said.

“These things are hard to take and we feel devastated, but we feel like we have another opportunity next Saturday. It’s all part of this tour and being professional.

“For a lot of us in there it was the biggest game of our careers to date, and to come so close to winning the series it’s more than hard to take.

“But the series is still there for the taking. We have to make amends.”

The Lions could be without captain Sam Warburton next weekend as he wrestles with a hamstring problem that forced him off after 67 minutes in Melbourne.

Warburton was awaiting the results of a scan and did not fly to Noosa with his colleagues. He will, though, join them today.

“He is an outstanding player,” Parling said. “If he isn’t available, then there are other very good guys who have been champing at the bit to try to get their chance.

“We have one more chance, one more crack. For the majority of players it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, unless you are Brian O’Driscoll and you go four times.

“We have to get on with it and have a good crack at it.”