White's Lions woe

Scotland international Jason White has voiced his disappointment at not being called into the Lions squad after Lawrence Dallaglio was ruled out for the rest of the tour.

The England number eight dislocated an ankle during the 34-20 win over Bay of Plenty yesterday and, after surgery, will be out of the game for six months.

Lions coach Clive Woodward overlooked White and called up Ireland international Simon Easterby as Dallaglio's replacement.

White is recovering from a fractured thumb but insists he would have been available and has not ruled out a further opportunity to play for the tourists.

White told Scotland on Sunday: "I am disappointed but I still have a cast on my thumb and wires in.

"The wires are due to come out on Thursday after which I'll be able to take contact but I could have had them out today to enable me to travel.

"I honestly don't know if the thumb was the reason that Woodward opted for Easterby but I am going to keep training and keep fit anyway.

"There are some big hits going in on this tour and injuries obviously happen."

Scotland captain Gordon Bulloch has called for other `leaders' to step up as inspirational voices for the rest of the Lions tour.

Martin Corry will skipper the team in the next match against Taranaki on Wednesday after injury robbed Dallaglio of another full tour after a knee problem forced him to return from the trip to Australia.

Bulloch said: "I'm bitterly disappointed for him because I know how up he was for this tour.

"I was in Australia when he had to go home and I remember how devastated he was then.

"As far as the team is concerned, the experience and all-round rugby ability that he brings to the squad will be sadly missed.

"He is a leader on the pitch, in training and in everything else he does - there's no point pretending that losing him is not a major blow.

"Having said that, I think there are a lot of leaders in the squad.

"Martin Corry has captained England, Michael Owen has captained Wales and the Lions, Richard Hill and Mike Back have got bundles of experience and, of course, I have done my fair share of captaining too.

"It is up to us now to step up and take over the job Lawrence was doing and take the squad forward."

Scotland scrum-half Chris Cusiter will take his Lions' bow in the game in New Plymouth on Wednesday.