Outburst was irony insists Healey the lip

LONDON - Outspoken English rugby player Austin Healey has defended his tirade against Australian lock Justin Harrison, rejecting suggestions that his outburst cost the Lions a series victory against the Wallabies.

Utility player Healey derided Harrison as "an ape, a plank and a plod" before last Saturday's decisive third test in Sydney. The Lions lost 23-29, with a fired-up Harrison giving a superb all-round display on debut.

Healey's outburst has provoked a storm of condemnation from Lions officials and media on all sides.

But Healey remained unrepentant yesterday, writing in a column for the Guardian newspaper in Britain that his remarks had been ironic.

"Now we've lost, it's bound to be used as the reason," Healey wrote.

"'Austin's column cost us the tour.' Up mine, I suppose. I don't think I'm to blame for the defeat, or Third World debt, or the Olympics going to Beijing, but it's been a weird time and anything is possible."

Healey faces disciplinary action from the Lions, and possibly England over his outburst.

The Daily Mail reported that England boss Clive Woodward planned to call Healey to account and was at a loss to explain his remarks.

"We don't know why the players are doing it. They are making us look silly," said Woodward, who will also speak to halfback Matt Dawson after his criticism of the Lions management earlier in the tour.

The Mail said Healey faced a fine from the Lions for alleged breach of contract after the outburst, which still had coach Graham Henry fuming a day after the loss.

"Will that stupid damn guy never ever learn?" Henry was quoted by the tabloid Sun as saying.

"I was amazed that a Lions player would give the opposition the ammunition they needed to prepare for the test," Henry added.

"I was amazed, too, that anyone would write that stuff on the morning of the game. It was effectively a team talk for the Australians.

"Healey's view was probably that he would knock them off their equilibrium, that they would be thinking of other things and so lose their focus. Instead it was ideal ammunition for them."

Australian newspapers proudly proclaimed the Wallabies the world's leading rugby team yesterday, and the Lions were described as "brooding losers."

The Australian reported that Harrison was told by the Lions to "f ... off" out of their dressing room when he tried to swap jerseys after the match.

Under a back-page heading of "Foul Lions deliver final insult," the Australian said the incident happened during "disgraceful scenes."

"Traditions of the game were recklessly stomped as the brooding losers, showing all the petulance of schoolboy prats, refused to swap jerseys with the debutant who tore out their hearts with a lineout steal in the last 90s of an enthralling third and final test."

The Sydney Morning Herald, under a headline "Wallabies on top of the world," asked: "Can it get any better than this? Probably not, because there is nothing left for the Wallabies to win."

- AGENCIES