The Lions chilled out to the last minute of their stay in Townsville yesterday, seemingly intent on absorbing every last ray of the tropical sun in north Queensland. Little of their schedule has gone according to the minute so far, save for the actual matches, but yesterday they were particularly tardy for their early morning session, suggesting they had, eh, celebrated the completion of win two the previous night. Fair dinkum. It's all part of the bonding process you see.
As the sun beat down again in the high 20s, player interviews were conducted poolside at the rear of their casino hotel (almost Disneyesque in its grandness), with its panoramic view of Magnetic Island and Cleveland Bay stretching out to the South Pacific Ocean. Why would you want to move on from here?
"We've enjoyed our stay here," said Graham Henry the night before, appeasing the local press corps but nonetheless speaking for all.
They even seemed to be pushing it for their late afternoon flight for the third leg of the tour in Brisbane in readiness for the first of the mini-Tests against the Super 12 semi-finalists, the Queensland Reds, in Ballymore on Saturday.
Perhaps, too, the selectors had been in conclave longer than expected in picking the side for that match, given additional food for thought by Tuesday night's 83-6 win against the Queensland President's XV. "I think a considerable number did their chances a lot of good last night," said Henry, reckoning "over 50 per cent had bonus games."
Prominent amongst these must have been Rob Henderson, who is one of three players (Dafydd James and Tom Smith being the others) picked for back-to-back games, but this time in his favoured inside centre role and in tandem with Brian O'Driscoll (The full back experiment has been shelved, for the time being at any rate. Hallelujah.) One senses the microscope will be on Henderson this Saturday, but that he's earned a real tilt at the number 12 Test jersey.
This being the first of the big games, the big guns are being rolled out. Hence the tour introductions of Lions captain Martin Johnson and likely Test outhalf Jonny Wilkinson. Indeed, it has the strongest whiff yet of a Test team.
Henry maintained nothing was cast in stone. "I think you'd have ideas - it would be silly if you didn't - about Test selection. But those change from game to game and they change with circumstances as well . . . injuries and things like that. So I think you've got to be able to ride with it and some players can play themselves into a Test team by performance, and one or two have already."
A key concern on any tour, but especially a Lions tour, is that the reservists maintain interest. Admitting they wanted to keep all the squad interested in Test spots, so as to prevent a schism, Henry stressed this was not a shadow Test selection.
"It's very important there's a lot of unity in the group and that we all pull together to try and do well in the Tests. If we have a split camp, an A team and a B team, if you like, I don't think that's good for the unity of the side. So I think we need to see the bigger picture. I think it's going to be a very difficult Test selection. It's certainly not . . . well, I'd be surprised if this is the (first) Test selection."
That said, it'll be surprising if at least 10 of this selection don't play the following two Saturdays as well, and possibly as many as 13 or 14. Lawrence Dallaglio will presumably enter the back row fray, though otherwise this could be the Test pack. Robert Howley may now be fractionally ahead of Matt Dawson in the scrumhalf contest; Neil Jenkins' ordinariness has hardened Wilkinson's outhalf claims even when idle and while Henderson has his big chance the only other area of obvious debate is the right wing.
Henry also maintained they were striving to keep a balance in their selection as they were taking the Australia A game (on Tuesday) "very seriously". Nonetheless, by Saturday week the Lions will be fast running out of preparatory time given the first Test will only be seven days away then, and Henry admitted: "The team that plays against New South Wales is likely to be the skeleton with a bit of meat on it."
Austin Healey can't get a start but is on the bench for the third game running, suggesting he'll make the Test 22, whatever about the XV. One nagging, if predictable problem position appears to be the right wing, though Henry countered this suggestion by asking rhetorically: "have we got a problem there?"
On the evidence of the first two games, apparently so, for it's surely significant that of the 31 tries scored thus far eight have been finished off by left wingers and none by right wingers. Even so, Henry launched another staunch defence of James (a centre converted into a left winger now on the right wing), who has been retained, rather than use the opportunity to look at a more potent finisher such as Healey, Jason Robinson or Dan Luger on that flank.
On the injury front, Dallaglio, Mike Catt and Robin McBryde should be available for the Australia A game. The Queensland Reds will be missing Wallaby full back Chris Latham, who is nursing a shoulder strain, but otherwise are expected to have eight internationals playing.
John Eales is expected to lead the side, despite aggravating the Achilles tendon problem which sidelined him for eight weeks of the Super 12 campaign, though as a precaution he may only play the first 40 minutes.
