Dallaglio succumbs to knee injury
June 24, 2001

The Lions have suffered an injury hammer blow when former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio was ruled out of their tour Down Under.

Dallaglio is still struggling with a knee injury that threatened his chances of touring Australia, and is now set to fly home.

``If I stayed on tour longer, I might do further damage to my knee, and it might need reconstruction,'' he said.

Ireland flanker David Wallace, at an Ireland training camo in Poland at the moment, will replace Dallaglio, while in another injury development, England hooker Dorian West is also travelling to Australia.

At a press conference on Monday the former England skipper said: "If I had continued the risk of surgery would have increased and that is not what I want."

"The Test series will be a very demanding arena, and having played international rugby I know what is required, and the current state of my leg will not be up to what is required."

"It's a big disappointment, obviously, as I was making very good progress
but I had to be honest," Dallaglio said.

Dallaglio also defended the decision to come on tour in the first place.

"I think the decision to come out here was justified but I had a set-back at the weekend," he said

Both Keith Wood and Robin McBryde are nursing injuries, and although neither player is going home, West has been summoned as cover.

Dallaglio becomes the fifth player to see his tour finish prematurely, following Mike Catt, Dan Luger, Simon Taylor and Phil Greening.

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