Lions bang the drum

The Lions have been banging the drum 48 hours before their departure for Australia.

The potent mixture of melody and muscle, as performed at the tourists' mansion retreat in rural Hampshire, will hardly strike a chord in the charts, but if the Wallabies listen hard enough they may just detect the sound of a warning. These tambourine men could have belted out their own tribute to the original Mr Tambourine Man, except that the 37-piece orchestra had nothing to do with celebrating Bob Dylan's 60th birthday. The idea was, in fact, aimed at pulling enough strings to beat the World Cup-holders in their own backyard.

The challenge of splitting the Lions into musical groups and bringing them together as a tour de force was part of a series of motivational exercises devised by Impact Training, a company based in Windermere which performed a similar role before the last tour four years ago.

A spokesman said: 'It's all part of the overall plan to get everyone working together as a team.' One Lion said: 'We didn't know what to make of it at first but it was great fun once we got into the swing of it. Amazingly, everyone was in tune, except for Keith Wood.' Ireland's captain is obviously saving his rhythm for the Wallabies.