Anton Oliver has been ruled out of the first test for the All Blacks against the Lions due to a calf injury. Derren Witcombe will replace Oliver at Hooker.

The Lions are busily making changes as well. Gordon Bullock - the Scottish captain - will captin the Lions in the game against Otago this Saturday at the House of Pain in Dunedin. That's the third captain for the Lions so far this tour. Share it round lads :)

Here's the Lions' squad for Saturday's game:-

Geordan Murphy - Ireland
Denis Hickie - Ireland
Will Greenwood- England
Gordan Darcy - Ireland
Shane Williams- Wales
Charlie Hodgson- England
Chris Cusiter- Scotland
Ryan Jones- Wales
Martyn Williams- Wales
Lewis Moody- England
Donncha OCallaghan - Ireland
Simon Shaw- England
Matt Stevens- England
Gordon Bulloch- Scotland (captain)
Graham Rowntree- England
Reserves: Steve Thompson- England
Andy Sheridan- England
Danny Grewcock- England
Simon Easterby- Wales
Matt Dawson- England
Ollie Smith- England
Ronan OGara - Ireland

And... here's the Otago side:-

Glen Horton
Hayden Pedersen
Neil Brew
Seilala Mapusua
Matt Saunders
Nick Evans
Danny Lee
Grant Webb
Josh Blackie
Craig Newby (captain)
Tom Donnelly
Filipo Levi
Craig Dunlea
Jason Macdonald
Carl Hoeft
Reserves: Jed Vercoe, Jeremy Aldworth, Andrew McClintock, Alando Soakai, Chris Smylie, Ryan Bambry, Jason Shoemark

There's at least four ABs in that squad... should be a good night in Dunedin, if a little chilly :))

Good morning!

The French team to tour Australia and South Africa is as follows:- (from The Courier Mail )

Backs: J Elissalde, D Yachvili, F Michalak, Y Delaigue, Y Jauzion, F Fritz, B Baby, D Traille, V Clerc, J Candelon, C Heymans, N Brusque, J Laharrague.

Forwards: S Marconnet, P De Villiers, O Milloud, D Avril, W Servat, S Bruno, D Szarzewski, J Thion, P Pape, R Millo-Chluski, G Lamboley, J Bonnaire, Y Nyanga, R Martin, O Magne.

Australians wanting to see the Wallabies take on Italy in Melbourne on the 25th June can grab their tickets from Ticketmaster7. Brisvegas rugby lovers can catch the Wallabies v France game on 2nd July 2005 by heading over to Ticketek to buy tickets. The Bledisloe Cup match in Sydney on August 13 is not surprisingly 'sold out'.

The Australian Super 14 francises are apparently still lobbying to get their mitts on Clyde Rathbone but a decision is supposedly coming soon.

Have a good Queen's birthday weekend for those who get the day off :)

The Medical Journal of Australia has published a report saying that the scrum is responsible for a third of spinal injuries in players. Alan Jones, former Wallabies coach, has come out and said that the scrum should be abandoned for the safety of players. Yes, well. Uproar!! The IRB will have its medical officer review the report and make recomendations accordingly. I can't see the scrum being banned....the scrum contest really is an integral part of the game. I think they should do away with it all together in league though, watching their scrums is like watching junior rugby uncontested scrums - whoever feeds the ball wins it. Surely there will be some middle ground to be found.

Simon Taylor is out for the Lions due to a hamstring injury and he will be replaced by Ryan Jones. The Lions forward pack has already suffered the loss of Lawrence Dallaglio with a broken ankle, and lock Malcolm O'Kelly. We'll finally get to see Jonny Wilkinson back in action this Wednesday when he'll run on for the Lions in their game againt Wellington. You can catch that game on Live on Foxsports at 5pm Aussie time.

Good morning!

Yesterday the Wallabies flogged Samoa 74-7 at Telstra stadium. Ouch! Matt Giteau was the star of the game with an awesome display of ability. I feel for the Samoan lads, nobody likes a cricket score.

The New Zealand Maori got up over the British Lions 19-13 at Waikato stadium for their first ever win against the Lions. King Carlos was in form and had a blinder as flyhalf, and Jono Gibbes was an inspirational captain. Nice!!

Wales took on the Canucks in Toronto, and despite having 11 players out touring with the Lions managed to notch up a 60-3 win. Another cricket score....

I don't think I want to mention the 90-0 win the All Blacks had over Fiji earlier in the week - that's disheartening - especially when 23 year old Sitiveni Sivivatu scored four tries for New Zealand in his test debut against his country of birth.

Wallaby fans - the ARU is running a comp to win tickets to the Bledisloe Cup game in Auckland on September 3. All you have to do is go to one of the tests here and dress up in your Wallaby supporter gear. If nothing else, check out the pics of the 2004 entrants. Good thing there aren't any style police at the games.. :)

Later