Care takes a late tilt at Lions tour after O’Leary injury
Published on: 27th April, 2009
Care takes a late tilt at Lions tour after O'Leary injury | Related News
Danny Care will have a last-ditch audition for the Lions tour in competition with two contenders from four years ago.
The position vacated by the injured Tomas O’Leary will be left open long enough for
England’s No 2 scrum-half to challenge the more experienced Chris Cusiter and Dwayne Peel.
The Lions are prepared to delay their choice until the end of next week to give every candidate a shot at the prize, with Care lining up against London Irish in the Premiership semi-final on Saturday.
Harlequins director of rugby Dean Richards said: ‘If they’re looking for someone to ask questions of the opposition around the fringes, Danny is the man. Danny offers that little bit of something else. But if they’re looking for experience, he has less of it than the others.’
Cusiter was understood to have been in the provisional squad at the end of the Six Nations only to be overtaken by O’Leary’s post-championship charge. The 26-year-old, whose game-time at Perpignan has been limited since he decided to leave for Glasgow at the end of the season, cannot play again until Saturday week at the earliest.
Another scrum-half, Rob Howley, will have a crucial input in his capacity as Lions’ attack coach. He was part of the Wales coaching team responsible for excluding Peel from their Six Nations squad on the basis that the 64-Test veteran had not played well enough.
The fact that head coach Ian McGeechan is playing for time suggests the Lions are yet to be convinced about who should fill the gap.
It gives them a chance to reassess Scotland captain Mike Blair, passed over for the
original squad, Ireland’s 89- cap Peter Stringer, who steps into the breach for Munster, and a rank outsider like Ben Foden of Northampton.
Steve Walsh, the New Zealand referee who was given a one-match ban during the
2003 World Cup for his role in the touchline substitution row during England’s match
against Samoa, has resigned over a drink problem.
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