But John O'Neill, head of the Australian RU, said: 'No player will be forced to make the trip. We will not be imposing on players an atmosphere that is not good for them or for Australian rugby.
'You have to take into consideration the conscientious objector and as long as the objection is well founded, and a very personal one, we would not impose on that player the requirement to tour. We are monitoring the situation following the bombing of Afghanistan by British and American forces but the tour is still on.
'Obviously, we have been in touch regularly with the federal government since September 11 but the events overnight have heightened everyone's concern.
'We have spoken to the government again this morning. There is no reason at this stage to contemplate cancelling the tour but we will have to monitor the situation on a daily basis.'
