Dawson owes a huge debt to Johnson

But what on earth prompted Dawson to say what he did?

Well, it's no secret that everything in the garden had not been rosy on this tour.

There was a lot of talk about over-training, and all the injuries which were being picked up tended to support that view.

But the major factor in all this was that this tour has a shorter itinerary than previous tours with very little time to prepare before the First Test.

It was evident the training ground was where the players were going to get ready to take on the world champions and not the hotel team room with their feet up with coffee and biscuits.

Six Nations teams spend so much time together these days with autumn internationals and the Six Nations Championship that it is possible for these national sides to take the foot off the pedal when they tour, especially at the end of a gruelling season.

But this is not a national team on tour with everything in place and rehearsed to perfection.

This is a Lions tour where they start from scratch.

They are also four nations merged into one team. It is universally acclaimed as one of sport's great achievements if these Lions tours gel, let alone become successful.

So Dawson's criticism of the coaches, management and training sessions was wrong and I'm sure he deeply regrets his aberration.

But the deed has been done and the same management team he criticised have dealt with the affair "internally", as dirty washing should be.

What the management and captain Johnson also recognise is that this sad affair could be the catalyst to bring this touring party together once and for all.

Dawson was due to play today against the ACT Brumbies and can count himself lucky that he had the chance to make amends for his crass stupidity.

For whatever has happened to Dawson, domestically or professionally, that has driven him to make this catastrophic error it is now done and dusted and all that remains is for him to regain respect from his fellow players and management.