O'Gara to start the ball rolling

Ronan O'Gara may well get to open the Lions Tour with a chance to impress at outhalf after fellow playmakers Jenkins and Wilkinson…

Ronan O'Gara may well get to open the Lions Tour with a chance to impress at outhalf after fellow playmakers Jenkins and Wilkinson were confirmed as injury worries.

Wales fly-half Neil Jenkins can be considered for Friday's opening match of the Lions tour but England stand-off Jonny Wilkinson is likely to be given longer to recover from a groin strain, an official said today.

Jenkins needed six stitches below his eye after colliding with Ireland lock Malcolm O'Kelly in training yesterday but Lions media official Alex Bround said there was no swelling and he could resume training.

The news will be welcomed by the Munster outhalf who many feel warranted an inclusion from the start regardless of the fitness of the British pair.

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Jenkins had already complained about general soreness after arriving in Australia, while Wilkinson - likely to be first choice No.10 for the Tests - is nursing a groin injury.

Meanwhile Welsh prop Dai Young, on his third Lions tour, also missed training today.

The 33-year-old Young, who toured here in 1989 and went to South Africa with the Lions in 1997, had a calf strain. He underwent a calf operation last September which caused him to miss three Welsh Tests in November.

He returned in January to skipper Wales for the 2001 Six Nations campaign and their first back-to-back win in Paris in 44 years.

Lions coach Graham Henry has already hinted that Wilkinson, along with England and Lions captain Martin Johnson and England flanker Lawrence Dallaglio will be rested for Friday's opener against Western Australia at the WACA cricket ground where the Lions won 44-0 in 1989.

The Lions' first Test against Australia is not until June 30th in Brisbane.

-AFP