Wood proud to lead Lions' first charge

There are few higher honours for an Irish or British player than captaining the Lions and there are few more deserving of this little piece of history than Keith Wood. Never mind that Western Australia belong to the William Hague category of underdogs in tomorrow evening's tour opening at the WACA ground (kick-off 11.30 a.m. Irish time). That it will be the first time the Lions take to the field will add a little more lustre to the sight of Wood leading them out.

Knowing him it's not something he would have sought or allowed himself to think of. He's also usually able to play down the personal achievements or accolades that come his way, but this personal honour was clearly an exception. He looked as proud as punch.

Normally one of the most thoughtful and erudite of players, describing his feelings at this latest entry to his impressive cv reduced even Wood to gushing, standard sports-speak. "It's an incredible honour. I was very surprised by it, but very happy about it. It's a big challenge, first match of the tour, and I'm really looking forward to it." However, the lifeblood of the print media on tour four years ago reverted to type after the formal press conference in the ballroom, no less, of the squad's base, the Esplanade Hotel, in Fremantle, south of Perth, and soon held court in his inimitable fashion. Nor did it come as earth-shattering news to hear Wood confess the captaincy wouldn't necessarily mean him talking any more during the game. More than the voluble one already does, that is.

"One of my views of captaincy is that you put a huge amount of trust in your key players in a team, your key players being two, eight, nine, ten and 15. Eight, nine, they effectively run the game from most situations, especially from scrum situations and you have to put a lot of trust in them. They have the ball in their hands more often and everybody has a certain amount of ownership of the team.

"The bigger decisions are mine at the end of the day, but I would want input. I would want guys to be comfortable with their roles and I'll do whatever I can to make certain that is the case."

You believe him when he tells you the Lions have worked their socks off and the training has been sharp despite the two hours-plus average duration of each of the daily double sessions. So yesterday was a day off. Golf for some, a visit to the zoo for others, or just "chilling out" around the hotel for self-confessed "old fellas" like Wood and Lawrence Dallaglio.

Comparisons with four years ago were inevitable. Aside from the obvious improvement in fitness levels, the improvement in the sheer ability of the players seemed to almost make Wood wince. "Looking at some of the younger players in the squad, especially that I haven't seen at close hand before, there's some scary players there, to be honest. Scary propositions."

Brian O'Driscoll's inclusion at full-back was the day's big talking point, Wood describing it as a bit "alternative".

"But he's a talented kid, that's for certain, and he could play anywhere he wanted to. It won't be a bother to him; I've full confidence in him." It also says something for the level-headedness Wood believes O'Driscoll possesses that he could add the verdict: "He's the best player we've had for donkey's years in any position. But we've a few new kids on the way up, there's a few little scary prospects."

Graham Henry endeavoured to play it down, maintaining it was to add to their options in a relatively thinnish area in the event of either Iain Balshaw or Matt Perry being injured. "I don't think you should read anything more into it than that really," he said, and added, "I think it's very unlikely he'll play there" in the Tests. Be that as it may, one suspects Henry was being deliberately coy.

Granted, they probably wanted to give Balshaw's recently-injured shoulder a bit more rest. Nevertheless, fullback has long been identified as one of the Lions' more problematic positions and, after all, were O'Driscoll to dip his bread against the tourists' weakest opponents (and, knowing him, that's quite feasible) what next? Then again, against unexceptional opposition, what relevance will it have? More will be revealed with the selection of the team for the fourth match against Queensland on Saturday week.

By then, bumps and strains permitting, everyone will have played in the opening two games. As it is, nine players will be blooded for the Lions in the WACA, including three of Ireland's four starters, Malcolm O'Kelly, Ronan O'Gara and O'Driscoll, and another four will be if they come on from the bench (including Rob Henderson). Among the others there'll be a couple of poignant returns. On his last appearance for the Lions Will Greenwood had a life-threatening experience, losing consciousness after landing on his head on Bloemfontein's rock hard surface in the tourists' 52-30 win over Free State four years ago and swallowing his tongue before being revived in the dressing-room.

He has always rejected the claim this was in any way related to the subsequent dip in his career, which saw him dropped by England and even at Leicester, before relaunching his career with Harlequins this season. Robert Howley's tour four years ago ended even earlier when he injured his shoulder early in his fourth game against Natal and was replaced by Kyran Bracken.

Greenwood will start at inside centre and Mark Taylor at outside centre, while Ben Cohen was more inclined to switch to the right in accommodating Dan Luger on the left; an issue arising from the selection of four wingers who predominantly play on the right rather than the left.