Bracken latest to sign for 'Quins

Transfer news: Connacht and former Ireland A prop Peter Bracken has signed a two-year deal with NEC Harlequins. But the 27-year-old is hoping to end his four-year spell with Connacht by playing his part in them qualifying for the Heineken European Cup.

"It would be a great way to finish with Connacht. I have had four great seasons here and have developed as a player and a person. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to see Connacht make it to the Heineken Cup," said the Tullamore native.

Bracken, who was approached a year ago by Harlequins, said he felt the time was now right to move to England.

"I have always wanted to play in the Premiership and am really looking forward to it," said the former Offaly minor footballer.

John Kingston, who coached Bracken at Galwegians, is one of the assistant coaches at The Stoop and a key factor in the Connacht prop heading there.

Bracken was a lock forward on the 1996 Irish Schools side which won the Triple Crown and toured Australia undefeated in nine games before converting to the front row when he joined Garryowen.

He is the latest in a growing list of Irish players to be recruited by Harlequins with Gavin Duffy, Jeremy Staunton, Andy Dunne, Simon Keogh and Mel Deane on the books of the west London club this season.

LIONS TOUR: Tom Smith's hopes of a third Lions tour have been dealt a blow after he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a fractured bone in his hand.

The Scotland prop will be sidelined for four-to-six weeks after suffering the injury in Northampton's European Cup quarter-final defeat to Toulouse.

Four weeks out would see him miss all of his club's remaining matches, but he should still be fit for the Lions. Smith started all six Tests on previous tours to South Africa and Australia.

Meanwhile, Lawrence Dallaglio and Richard Hill should be picked for the Lions tour, former Wales captain Ieuan Evans said yesterday.

Former England captain Dallaglio retired from Test rugby last year, and Hill has only just returned from a serious knee injury.

However, Evans, who toured three times with the Lions between 1989 and 1997, says the pair should be in the 44-man squad.

"Dallaglio and Hill are not gambles," Evans told the BBC. "If they can contribute to the team and it doesn't undermine the squad then I don't see why they shouldn't go."

Lions coach Clive Woodward will name his squad on Monday.

The 31-year-old Hill, who had been out of action since suffering a serious knee injury last October, played the first half of a lower-tier game between his club Saracens and Gloucester on Monday.

"I feel fine," Hill said. "The next step for me is waiting to see if there is any reaction after the game, and that is not just a case of in the knee, but my body in general."

Evans's comments echoed those of former Ireland skipper Keith Wood, who said last week that Dallaglio should be in Woodward's squad. "Lawrence has been consistently the best number eight around," Wood said. "On a long tour you can depend on him."