No certainties for Lions
Veteran centre Brian O'Driscoll does not believe that any player is a certainty to start in the decisive third Test against the Wallabies on Saturday.
The Irish midfielder – who is on his fourth British and Irish Lions tour and favourite to take the captaincy from the injured Sam Warburton – said that after their defeat in Melbourne last week every position is up for debate.
The Lions won the first test 23-21 on June 22 in Brisbane and are trying to end a 16-year losing streak – the last series victory on their quadrennial tours was in 1997 over South Africa.
The 34-year-old O'Driscoll, who made his debut as a Lion in the 2-1 series loss to Australia in 2001, figures no one is a certainty for inclusion in the side that will be named on Wednesday.
"Particularly when you have lost a game, I imagine every place is up for scrutiny, at least, as to whether the person deserves to be in the jersey again," O'Driscoll said.
"I won't go chewing my nails off thinking about it. I will go with the flow like everyone else does. Hopefully, I will be included in that team. If I am not, I will deal with that if the situation arises."
Centre Jamie Roberts (hamstring) and prop Alex Corbisiero (calf muscle) both worked out on Monday – the only two members of the side scheduled to do so – and both will be considered for the squad to play Saturday before a sellout crowd of at about 82,000 at Sydney's former Olympic stadium.
The Lions will hold their first full workout at a local rugby ground in Noosa shortly after the team is named on Wednesday.
O'Driscoll said there appeared to be no favourite for the deciding test.
"We knew we were never going to get it easy against Australia, and it has been proved," O'Driscoll said. "They have been two incredibly keenly-contested games. Both of them should probably have gone the other way that they did, and it now culminates with a winner-takes-all.
"One more 80 minutes this season is all that is asked of everyone in the squad – the 80 minutes of their lives."
SAPA
