The Lions have been rocked by the news that flanker Richard Hill and scrum-half Rob Howley have been ruled out of the series decider with Australia in Sydney next Saturday.

Hill suffered concussion after a clash with the Wallabies Nathan Grey during yesterday's 35-14 defeat and is now sidelined for the mandatory three weeks while Howley damaged his ribs and will not recover in time to take his place in the side next Saturday.

Lions coach Graham Henry is also sweating on the fitness of Jonny Wilkinson, Rob Howley and Brian O'Driscoll.

Fly-half Wilkinson is the biggest concern after he was stretchered off during the second-half suffering from a leg injury but it has been clarified that he did not break his leg as was first feared.

Lions manager Donal Lenihan commented, "These sort of things can detoriate rapidly or settle down very quickly. We will have a fairly clear idea tomorrow (Monday) whether he can play but we are very encouraged by what happened overnight."

Wilkinson has his right leg in plaster and stayed in Melbourne to see a specialist who will consult with the Lions tour doctor, James Robson, on Monday.

Lenihan was also angry about the challenge that ruled flanker Hill out of the tour and the fact that independent commissioner David Grey of New Zealand had overuled the Lions when they cited Grey. "We are very disappointed. The incident was far more serious than Colin Charvis'. It was a far more malicious injury. It took a player out of a Test match. I don't think that's acceptable," Lenihan said.

Charvis was banned for two matches for using his knees against Australian prop Nick Stiles in the first Test in Brisbane.

Of the Lions latest set back coach Graham Henry said Howley and Hill would be be difficult to replace. "They are world-class players. Their loss is huge," he added.

The Lions management and senior players were meeting late Sunday to discuss what tactics to adopt for the third Test. "We have been thinking of nothing else since the final whistle last night," Henry said."But we are very positive."

Lenihan said the players needed to lift themselves for one last hurrah. "It's a World Cup final now," he said. "One more game at the end of a long season but the rewards are huge."

The Lions meet Australia in the 3rd and deciding Test in Sydney next Saturday in front of a capacity 80,000 crowd.