Lions playing for life

By CHRIS HEWETT

Twelve years ago, David Campese did something monumentally daft in his own in-goal area at the Sydney Football Stadium and handed the Lions their first series victory over anyone since 1974.

This year, the main man is merely saying daft things. The way Campese sees it, the four Home Nations should forget their individual designs on the 2003 World Cup and field a Lions team instead.

Just to give themselves a chance, you understand.

Campese's idea is a bigger non-starter than a "Jonah for Prime Minister" push, for the simple reason that the rugby World Cup needs all the meaningful entrants it can get.

Without them, it would resemble the rugby league World Cup - one of the great sporting misnomers in history.

Scotland, Ireland and Wales may have next to no chance of challenging the Big Three Southern Hemisphere countries in a serious game of union, but at least they have the capacity to show up for an hour.

In league, there are only three teams worth the price of a cheap ticket.

The rest are cannon-fodder, and useless cannon-fodder at that.

But Campese unwittingly raised an interesting point. Where does British rugby stand in the light of this series?

And where do the Lions feature in the grand scheme of things?

Victory for the tourists in Sydney tonight would propel "Old Country" rugby another five rungs up the ladder, just as the 1991 World Cup and the 1997 triumph in South Africa broadened the game's mass appeal. The next Lions tour, to New Zealand in 2005, would be an instant sellout. It would be a real tour, too - as many as 13 matches against the very best opposition.

Defeat tonight would send out a different message.

Graham Henry has been hammered from pillar to post for neglecting the Lions' dirt-trackers and piling all his eggs into the test basket.

What is the point of midweek matches, the critics ask, if not to produce challengers for the elite XV?

In defeat, Henry might well turn round and say: "You tell me the point. We lost players such as Lawrence Dallaglio, Mike Catt and Will Greenwood against provincial opposition.

"Next time, let's pick the test side at home, have one warm-up game to blow out the cobwebs and get straight into the test series."

There are influential old farts at Twickenham who seriously question the value of a Lions tour.

In their view, the four-yearly gathering disrupts England's all-important World Cup planning.

An unsuccessful tour would only add fuel to the flames, so victory tonight is imperative.

Can the Lions do it, without the expertise of Rob Howley at halfback and the all-encompassing resourcefulness of Richard Hill on the flank?

Yes, they can. But only if their set-piece work takes a big step forward from Melbourne, where the scrum was desperate and the lineout even worse.

Henry's decision to introduce the rent-a-quote wing Austin Healey may suggest a more expansive approach, but the real work this week has centred on the heavy mob: Martin Johnson, Keith Wood, Phil Vickery, Danny Grewcock, Martin Corry, Scott Quinnell.

Shorn of David Giffin, the Wallabies are lacking in grunt at the sharp end. The Lions still see the Australian tight five as vulnerable, despite the technical calamities of a week ago.

If the Lions can get a three-quarters fit Jonny Wilkinson on to the field, they have it in them to repeat their achievement of 1989 and cement the future of the most celebrated oval-ball institution of the lot.

If Wilkinson dips out at any stage, it will come down to the Awkward Brothers, Healey and Matt Dawson, at halfback. At which point, all bets will be off.

- INDEPENDENT