Earls and D'Arcy in line for promotion

LIONS TOUR TO SOUTH AFRICA:IT'S AN ill Irish wind and all that, but in light of Brian O'Driscoll being ruled out of Saturday's third Test in Johannesburg, Keith Earls and Gordon D'Arcy are two of the candidates in line to be promoted to the starting line-up. The likelier option, perhaps, is that Riki Flutey is chosen to partner Jamie Roberts.

In that scenario, Roberts could play at outside centre as well, allowing Flutey to play in his more customary inside centre role, although the Kiwi-born English player has worn the number 13 jersey outside D’Arcy in the last two midweek games. Of course, D’Arcy could also be accommodated at 12 when the team is announced tomorrow lunchtime.

The situation is complicated by the doubts over Roberts and Tommy Bowe. The Lions head doctor, Dr James Robson, made optimistic noises concerning their recovery in a statement yesterday. “The two other players who suffered injury in the second Test, Tommy Bowe and Jamie Roberts, continue to be assessed on a daily basis but at this point they are making encouraging progress.”

In addition to the homeward-bound O’Driscoll and Adam Jones (dislocated shoulder), Gethin Jenkins (broken cheekbone) has also been ruled out of consideration although he will remain with the party until after Saturday’s third Test. Andrew Sheridan looks set to start at loosehead, with either Phil Vickery or John Hayes in line to replace Adam Jones.

Otherwise, changes are likely to be kept to a minimum, although were Roberts and/or Bowe to be ruled out, then D’Arcy, Earls, Ugo Monye and Shane Williams would also enter the equation, as well as James Hook.

With the series already decided – Saturday’s game is a dead rubber – O’Driscoll thus failed in his sole, stated ambition to be part of a winning Lions’ Test series for the first time. “It was, but do you know what? Even having lost it I’m really glad that I got to experience everything up to halfway into the last week. I’ve had a brilliant tour and I think that says an awful lot about whatever the management have done and the group of players too.

“It’s not just management. I think, it’s still been an incredibly enjoyable tour, way more than the other two. Even though we’ve lost the series going into the last game, I still look back and go ‘do you know what, I’ve really, really enjoyed myself’.

“Lions tours are based on the success of the series, but at least this time around there’s been more to it than the previous tours. I’ve enjoyed the other factors that maybe I didn’t enjoy in the first two.”

O’Driscoll left his body, spirit and soul on the Loftus Versfeld pitch last Saturday and recalling the events of the second Test in Durban last Saturday, O’Driscoll admits to being stunned from a collision with Bryan Habana and Gethin Jenkins before his ferocious hit on Danie Rossouw effectively put both of them out of the game.

“I was a bit shaky before that when Gethin actually cracked a cheekbone I hit Habana as well, and I only saw today on the video that Gethin pretty much punched me in the face in the act of the tackle which kind of stunned me. I was a bit shaky and then when the second hit came along I was a little worse for wear. I didn’t seem to have any emotions because of the knock to my head, which was weird, for the remaining 10 or 15 minutes when I was off the pitch; like not having emotion whether we won or lost.”

He must have been in a strange place, but he has no need to reproach himself after a stellar season, easily the best of his remarkable career. And there’ll be more to come.