Richards mauls the Lions for overlooking Harlequin pair

Dean Richards believes the Lions selectors have limited their options by ignoring the talents of scrum-half Danny Care and No8 Nick Easter for the summer tour of South Africa.

Both players impressed for England during the season and have helped their team to reach the final round of the regular Guinness Premiership season in second place, with a bonus point victory over Newcastle tomorrow now needed to clinch a home play-off match.

Excerpt:

"England captain Steve Borthwick, another high-profile player to miss out on the Lions tour, returns to Bath tomorrow for the first time since quitting the club to join Sarries and will then give his support to Simon Halliday, the ex-England, Bath and Quins centre, who is aiming to raise £10,000 for the CRY charity by completing the London Marathon on Sunday.

Halliday, the cardiac charity's patron, is predicting a Bath victory, a top-four finish and a time of around five hours for his marathon."