Mike Catt's tour prospects were tonight hanging by a thread after he suffered a recurrence of calf trouble during the Lions' 28-25 defeat against Australia A.

England centre Catt, who missed the opening three games Down Under through injury, limped off just before half-time.

And he then left on a 90-minute journey back to the team hotel in Sydney, accompanied by Lions doctor James Robson.

``Mike has hurt his calf again, and has gone back to the hotel. It is a recurrence of a calf muscle injury,'' said Lions manager Donal Lenihan. ``We will assess the situation later tonight,'' he added, but has not ruled
Catt out of the trip at this stage.

However, Catt resembled a forlorn figure as he hobbled away, and if Lions coach Graham Henry has to summon a replacement, then Welsh international Scott Gibbs and Scotland's Gregor Townsend would be probable favourites.

Centre Mark Taylor, full-back Matt Perry and number eight Scott Quinnell all suffered varying bumps and bruises, but nothing compared to the Lions' dented pride.

Even though they out-scored the Wallabies second-string 3-1 on tries, it could not detract from a technically undisciplined display.

Australia A fly-half Manuel Edmonds kicked seven penalties and converted wing Scott Staniforth's second-half try as New Zealand referee Paul Honiss repeatedly whistled the tourists.

The final penalty count was 24-9 in Australia A's favour, and the final scoreline was given a somewhat unreal appearance when Perry and wing Jason Robinson dashed over for late tries.

Australia A were well in control for most of the match, boasting vastly superior set-pieces and capitalising on a woeful Lions lineout.

They contrived to lose around nine balls on their own throw, and coach Henry was at a loss to explain what had gone wrong.

``Our lineout was not acceptable. We lacked basic sharpness, and a lot of negatives came out of this game,'' he said. ``But this could be the baseline we require. Reality has really set in.

``We need to put some more time into our lineout work, which needs to be quality time, and we will do that over the next week and a half. Tonight is a disappointment, and the guys will be frustrated. We need to sit down with the forward pack, and I am sure that areas like the lineout and kick-off will improve.''

Skipper David Young added: ``There are no excuses. We are top-quality
international players and, while the commitment was there, we just didn't perform.

``We knew that this wouldn't be an easy tour, and it will now show the
character of the squad in how we respond.

``For 60 minutes, we never had the ball, which meant that we couldn't establish field positions.''

The one bonus for Henry was Lawrence Dallaglio's performance in his first game since suffering a knee injury six weeks ago.

The England back-row star, who was sin-binned for trying to clear the ball from a ruck with his hand eight minutes from time, reported no ill-effects.

And he now looks a strong bet to march on in pursuit of a Test team place, unlike so many of his colleagues today, who played themselves out of contention, rather than into it.