Jonny hoping to reclaim test spot

The Lions throttled back on their heavy workload yesterday, avoiding the training ground for the gym, followed by impromptu games of soccer and cricket. 'We were belting the ball all over the place,' said Wood. 'Needless to say, Ireland won. I bring a certain hurling finesse to my cricket, although whether that had anything to do with it, I'm not saying.'

Richard Hill rejoined the Lions in a non-playing capacity last night, hurling his weight behind the support team for Saturday's finale. The 28-year-old Saracens flanker, who has been the outstanding back row forward of the tour, arrived from Melbourne 24 hours later than scheduled after recovering from the most damaging cheap shot of the series, Nathan Grey ' s off-the-ball smash to the jaw during the second Test in Melbourne.

Instead of feeling sorry for himself, having been eliminated in such brutal circumstances, Hill returned to the Lions' den rather than head for home, eager to play a very different part in helping put the tourists back on an even keel.

'I have to make sure I support the team in every way possible during the build-up to what's going to be a very tense decider,' he said. 'I'll be available all day, every day to offer practical support and any other assistance I can give. For the whole squad, this has to be the biggest match in their careers. They won't have another chance like it in their lifetime.

'The Wallabies have shown they mean business but this squad has the individuals and the work ethic to win the game and the series.'

Typically, Hill put his devotion to the collective cause above whatever anger he felt at having been knocked out of the series by a head-high tackle. Not surprisingly, he was unable to remember much about it 48 hours after the event. I suppose it would have been the last time I'd ever have pulled on a Lions shirt,' he said. 'My tour is over and that is a hard fact to come to terms with.

'I remember Martin Johnson breaking and passing the ball to me. I was concentrating on the ball and the next thing I remember was taking a blow to the jaw.

'I'm not sure exactly what happened after that. I remember being asked, presumably by the doctor, "are you all right?". I said I was and went back until half-time.

'I went into one of the medical rooms but I knew I wasn't right. My memory was still confused and I was trying desperately to convince myself that I would be OK.

'To play at this level you need to be 100 per cent aware of what's going on - and I wasn't. I felt dazed but I kept asking the doctor if I was all right, hoping he would tell me I was. Unfortunately, every time I inquired about the result, it never changed!'

The Wallabies, worried about fly half Stephen Larkham after he was hit by late tackles which could have put both Rob Henderson and Scott Quinnell into the sin-bin, have called up centre Graeme Bond, flanker Mark Connors and lock Justin Harrison before naming their 22 tomorrow.