England hooker Phil Greening is determined to stay in Australia to give himself a chance of playing for the Lions, despite being ruled out of the rest of the tour. The Wasps forward suffered a partial knee ligament tear during training in Perth last week. He said: "If I've still got a chance to try and wear the Lions shirt then I will try and take that chance.
"I am prepared to stay and it will take as long as it takes. It could be a week, two weeks or three weeks. Every day since it happened it has been getting better and I ran on it today, but it's not quite right.
"Obviously I am gutted to have been picked and then have it taken away without even playing in the shirt."
Greening will remain in Australia to undergo further treatment, and could still be called up as cover if any of the Lions' three hookers - Keith Wood, Robin McBryde or Gordon Bulloch - were injured before the trip ends on July 14. "We've had Phil medically re-examined," said Lions manager Donal Lenihan. "He has made significant progress, but it will be another two weeks before he can play.
Greening is the second player to see his trip reach a premature conclusion. Scotland back-row forward Simon Taylor damaged knee ligaments during the Western Australia game last Friday, meaning that Martin Corry was drafted in from England's tour of Canada as his replacement. With Bulloch already part of the squad, and McBryde recovering rapidly from a thigh injury, there are no plans to send for further hooking reinforcements.
Filed by Greg McKevitt
