British and Irish Lions

It means the South African Player of the Year in 2008 is facing a race against time to be fit to take his place in the Springboks' side to face the British & Irish Lions in the three match Castle Series starting in June.
The Stormers skipper tore tendons in his groin after only three minutes of last weekend's Super 14 game against the Hurricanes in Wellington. He will now definitely miss the final four games in the tournament.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers will be hoping his most creative midfield force will be back sooner rather than later. If he only takes a month to recover then he might be able to play in the game arranged for the end of May against a Namibian Invitation XV.
Worse news for the Stormers came in the shape of a broken wrist suffered by lock Adrian Fondse in the same game. His Super 14 campaign, and the early stages of the Currie Cup, is now over and he will also miss out on the chance of playing against the Lions for Western Province.

Assistant coach Graham Rowntree says The British & Irish Lions will have to be fully focussed to avoid a potential banana skin when they face The Barbarians a week today.

Three former British & Irish Lions will line-up against an England XV at Twickenham Stadium on Sunday as the Barbarians warm-up for their showdown with the 2013 tourists in Hong Kong next week.

Lions skipper Sam Warburton says the lessons he and his Welsh colleagues learnt in Australia last summer will stand them in good stead for their return visit with Britain and Ireland's elite next month.