The IRB have announced the three referees who will officiate the Lions Test matches this summer. Bryce Lawrence of New Zealand handles the opening test in Durban, Christophe Berdos of France will take charge in Pretoria while Australian Stuart Dickinson officiates the final test in Johannesburg.

IRB ref manager Paddy O’Brien explained the selection process. “We met with the Lions and South Africa team management last month. All were in favour of the appointment of neutral match officials for the Test series.”

All three referees are extremely experienced, Dickinson the most senior with 41 test matches to his name.

Martin Johnson has made it clear to his England Squad that not only is the Argentina test series this summer a full international fixture, but that it is the ideal proving ground for those potential Lions who may be called up in the event of injuries to the team in South Africa.

Talking to press, Johnson said: "I texted a few of the guys last week and reminded them that injuries happen on Lions tours. "If there are injuries, the best place they can be is playing tough rugby."

He went on to clarify the importance of the summer series in keeping England’s team momentum rolling.

"This is not a development tour. We are there to win the Test matches. I don't want people to think it doesn't matter because it is a development tour. We will put out our best team available to win that Test match. I get the vibe off some people - not within our party but around - that this is a development tour, it is under the radar. No it is not. It is England versus Argentina. We have won two Test matches on the trot [against France and Scotland in the final two rounds of the Six Nations] and we want to make that three the next time we play.”

Ian McGeechan has said that he will not rush to appoint a replacement for injured scrum-half Tómas O’Leary. “I’m not looking to name a replacement for 10 to 14 days. There’s still some rugby to watch”.

The field is fairly open for the replacement scrum-half berth with players from all four home nations in the fray. Mike Blair, Dwayne Peel and Danny care lead the way, but none of the possible replacements offer the physical presence that the Lions management had previously been looking for.

Chris Cusiter of Scotland and Perpignan and Peter Stringer of Ireland and Munster are also outside bets. Perpignan are currently topping the French Top 14, and with the possibility of Cusiter’s involvement in the final on 6th June, there is the possibility of complications between club and tour. The Lions play their first match against the Highveld XV on 30th May in Rustenberg.

Cardiff Blues stand-off Nicky Robinson has confirmed that Lions coach Rob Howley has let him know that he’s on the Lions standby list. In the event of injury, Robinson will be drafted into the squad.

"It's great to be on that list. I'm just trying to finish off the season well and playing as well as I can."

After a run of excellent form for Cardiff, most notably in their demolition of Gloucester in the EDF cup final, the fly-half is set to make his return to the Welsh number 10 jersey this summer as Wales travel to North America for matches against Canada and the United States.

Munster’s Tómas O’Leary has likely seen his Lions dreams shattered after a suspected broken ankle just three days after the squad announcement included him as one of three selected scrum-halves. The injury occurred with just 10mins on the clock as O’Leary found himself crushed at the breakdown.

Munster, playing Llanelli Scarlets in their first game since the squad announcement completed the game with Peter Stringer at scrum-half, eventually running out convincing victors. O’Leary’s injury only serves to highlight the considerable potential for injury between now and the departure of the touring squad. With the Magners League, Guinness Premiership and the Heineken Cup all reaching their crescendo’s in the coming weeks, Tómas O’Leary may not be the last player to have the chance snatched by injury.

O’Leary’s Munster counterpart Peter Stringer, England’s Danny Care, Dwayne Peel of Wales and Scottish duo Mike Blair and Chris Cusiter are all possibilities to replace the Irish man if his injury does prove to be as serious as expected.

We wish him all the best with his recovery.

Springbok and Bath fly-half Butch James has been ruled out of the Lions test series due to a tear of his cruciate ligaments. The injury occurred last weekend in Bath’s hard-fought 15-14 win over Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park.

James’ mediocre recent form made the world cup winning stand-off anything but a test certainty, but his experience will nevertheless be a huge loss for Peter de Villiers and the Springboks.

The South African will also miss the rest of Bath’s domestic season as the battle for a play off place and is due to undergo surgery within the next two weeks. All the best Butch.

Springboks head coach Peter De Villiers has expressed his surprise at the omission of a number of high profile names from the Lions squad, in particular, the three excluded home nations captains.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live De Villiers said “The one thing that surprised me was that the leaders of three home nations weren't included in the squad. The guys that play under those guys respect them."

Asked about the selection of Paul O’Connell as Lions skipper ahead of Brian O’Driscoll, the Boks coach suggested he wouldn’t have made the same decision. "Brian O'Driscoll was the captain of the last Lions team, even though he got injured, and he was the captain of the most successful Six Nations team this year. That's a second big surprise."

Given the lack of surprise in the home nations regarding the makeup of the tour squad and the obvious two horse race that we’ve seen unfolding for the skipper berth, his surprise is somewhat... surprising. Watch out for a follow up article on the Springbok reaction to the tour announcement.

Read our analysis of the Lions touring party and check out our breakdown of the squad by the numbers over on our features page. We’ve also added the full fixture list and Squad List to the relevant pages. If you have any suggestions or would like to write for the website, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Squad Analysis
Lions By The Numbers

The British & Irish Lions touring party for 2009 was announced yesterday afternoon. The management have selected 37 players, 20 forwards and 17 backs in a squad loaded with bulk and power.

It was mostly as expected with a few surprise selections in the shape of Keith Earls and Ugo Monye and a couple of omissions, most notably Welsh captain Ryan Jones and Leicester and England forward Tom Croft who was widely expected to make the trip on the back of exceptional recent form. A full analysis of the touring party will be available later, but for now, a round-up of some of the news items surrounding the selection.


- Leicester Scrum-Half Harry Ellis, the only player from the English club to make the trip, has backed his team mate Tom Croft to make a quick recovery from the snub. Speaking to press Ellis said: “He’s young and I’m sure he’ll be in contention for the next Lions tours. We’ve got some massive games coming up in the Guinness Premiership play-offs and the semi-final of the Heineken Cup against Cardiff. Tom will have a huge role to play in these games and I know he will give 110% in each of them.”

- South African head coach Peter De Villiers has said he expected Brian O’Driscoll to emerge above Paul O’Connell for the captains armband. “I am surprised that Paul O’Connell got the captaincy ahead of Brian O’Driscoll. O’Driscoll was the most successful captain in the Six Nations and captained the Lions four years ago”.

Going further, the Boks coach added, “Having said that, O’Connell is the captain of Munster and has also captained Ireland at Test level and we will not underestimate his leadership capabilities.”

- Meanwhile, Lions assistant coach Warren Gatland, who heads-up the Welsh coaching team was typically abrupt when asked about the omission of Ryan Jones. “The squad has been picked on form and he is not playing well enough at the moment”.

- Leigh Halfpenny, surprise inclusion into the Lions test squad at just 20 years of age, the tour’s youngest player, has already made his ambition of a test place clear saying “On tour, the one thing you’ll want is to get the Test jersey on.”

- Jim Telfer, ex-Lions coach and veteran of two tours as a player, has condemned the inclusion of the only two Scots in the tour party as a damning inditement of Scottish rugby’s present state.

Hello and welcome to Pride Of Lions.co.uk the unofficial website of The British & Irish Lions. Today is Tuesday 21st April and in a little under 12hrs, Ian McGeechan will announce the 2009 Lions touring party to travel to South Africa. The press are already widely reporting Paul O’Connell as the tour captain and we will have live coverage during the squad announcement at 1.30pm GMT.

Today we are also launching the site, ready for all the news and building excitement. Pride Of Lions will be growing rapidly over the next few weeks, so please check back regularly. Soon you’ll be able to find complete player profiles, venue information, fixture lists, match reports, squash updates and any other news that is note-worthy or of interest.

Pride Of Lions is a supporters site run by a supporter. While we’ll be offering all the same detailed news as other Lions websites and news portals, Pride Of Lions will also feature original editorial and feature articles. If you’re a keen rugby fan with a good knowledge of the game and an interest in journalism, get in touch. We’re actively looking to recruit.