THE LIONS chief doctor James Robson confirmed that on previous tours Keith Earls would have had to go home such was the magnitude of the injury he sustained in the opening game against the Royal XV in Rustenburg.

He spoke of his admiration for the young Ireland centre and the diligence and courage he showed under the care of physiotherapist Phil Pask in rehabilitating the damage.

“I can go into a little more detail now that Keith has recovered with regard to the injury. It was a collision injury akin to something that you might see in a car accident involving a seat belt.

“He bled quite badly into the pectoral muscle while also sustaining some damage to either end of the clavicle. He would have been in an awful lot of pain in terms of the work that Phil would have had to do to work on the deep tissue damage. Phil Pask and Keith Earls saved Keith Earls’ tour. I am absolutely delighted for Keith.”

The 21-year-old Munster centre showed no ill effects when playing in the victory over the Free State Cheetahs and scoring a trademark try in the process. He’s fully recovered. Robson also confirmed that the damage Riki Flutey sustained to his knee would also have been tour ending but the England centre has been dedicated in his rehabilitation and will return to full-contact training today.

He will be available for selection for the match against the Sharks in Durban on Wednesday, a team that will be confirmed at lunchtime today.

The only player not considered is Welsh openside Martyn Williams, who has been afforded a couple more days to get over a shoulder injury sustained in the opening match.

Robson explained: “If it was the final game of the tour he would be available to play,” before marvelling at the ethos in the squad with regard to treating injuries. “It is the best I have seen in any squad.”

The black eye that Donncha O’Callaghan was sporting after the victory over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein is minor in comparison, the Ireland secondrow delighted with his first competitive involvement in the third match of the tour.

“It was good to get a run. I got the jersey in the hotel and you get a little bit emotional; it’s the pinnacle of your career.”

Bearing a scar that illustrates the abrasive nature of the forward exchanges O’Callaghan sought to explain how the Lions had gone from dominating the match to hanging on for dear life.

“You’re 20 points up and you need the next score, whether it’s three or five, score next. You get three or four scores ahead of these teams and they lose a bit of hope, but they scored next and then made a bit of a game of it. When we did play to our pattern, I thought we played them off their feet a bit.”

He expressed his delight with the changes to the laws that now thrust a number two lineout jumper back into the mix. “Two is back. I’ll be honest, I said it all along about that ELV that for a two jumper it was a balls; you just weren’t getting any ball because their hooker was allowed to come in. It just didn’t make any sense. So, I’m glad that rule was changed.”

The Cheetahs dominated the breakdown, a fact the Irish player acknowledged. “Their six (Heinrich Brussow) was very good, to be fair to him. What he did was he’d make a tackle and he’d get back on his feet and get on the ball early.

“People might think there were a few close calls, was he on his knees and so forth but that’s a new rule: first man in has all the rights so that’s something we’re going to have to get better at.

“The game we’re trying to play, every body has to be able to arrive at working height at the breakdown and make an impact. When it comes to that it doesn’t matter what number you have on your back. The pack is going to have to put their hands up there and we need a bit more work-rate in getting to those.”

He conceded that he had found it tough going to every training session knowing that he wouldn’t be involved until the third game.

He admitted: “The last tour I was into it from the Argentina game and once you start playing games you’re on tour. It was tough, it really was. Ever since the Leinster game it’s been my sole focus and main goal and that’s no disrespect to the Munster games we had but this was always in the back of my head. It was great.”

His priority now is to shorten the down-time between matches and after Saturday it’s certainly an achievable ambition.