Rugby Union: Lions to tour Australia

The Lions will tour Australia in 2000 and 2008 and in return the Wallabies will make Grand Slam tours of Britain in 2000 and 2004.

The Lions will play two Tests in Australia in 2000 before travelling to New Zealand for two Tests against the All Blacks. The Lions have not toured Australia since 1989 when they won the last two Tests to take the series 2-1.

Two Lions, Allan Bateman and Barry Williams, have agreed to play for Wales against Romania in Wrexham on 30 August and for their club, Richmond, against Saracens the next day in an Allied Dunbar Premiership match.

They were the only two of six Welsh players at Richmond to make themselves available for international duty, although Scott and Craig Quinnell, John Davies and Andy Moore are all expected to play in the league match.

Another Lion, Scott Gibbs, has turned down a reported pounds 300,000 offer to join the Allied Dunbar First Division club Northampton and will stay with Swansea.

Squads for Wales game, Digest, page 27