Rugby Union: Little out of All Blacks tour

THE ALL BLACKS, who have already lost the great Michael Jones from the forthcoming tour of England and Scotland, suffered another blow yesterday when the experienced centre Walter Little was ruled out.

Little, an ever-present until he injured his knee ligaments in the first Test against the Lions during the summer, has still not fully recovered, and failed a late fitness test. His place will be taken by Wellington's Marty Berry, who first played for the All Blacks against Australia in 1986.

Meanwhile, the divisional championship, which has never been a favourite among the top players, will be shorn of a large number of internationals for its opening round on Saturday.

Martin Johnson, Leicester's England and Lions lock, joined the growing number of absentees when he pulled out of the Midlands side to face the South-West at Bath, citing a shoulder injury. 'The injury is getting worse, not better, so I must rest,' he said. It is unlikely to prevent him facing the All Blacks for the Midlands at Leicester on 26 October. His club colleague, John Wells, has also pulled out.

The South-West will also not be at full strength, with the Bath trio of Stuart Barnes, Jeremy Guscott and Ben Clarke all injured. Another Bath man, the impressively versatile Mike Catt, comes in for Barnes to form a fascinating half-back partnership with the Bristol prodigy, Kyran Bracken. Northampton's Nick Beal moves to the centre with the Bath pair of Audley Lumsden and Adedayo Adebayo on the wings.

The New Zealand tourists, who arrive on Monday, are proving a big attraction, esepcially in parts of the country which do not normally see internationals in action. They face the South-West at Redruth on 30 October, where they are likely to be welcomed to Hell Fire Corner by a sell-out crowd. Some 13,000 of of the 15,000 tickets have already been sold.

SOUTH-WEST (v Midlands, Bath, 16 Oct) (Bath unless stated): J Callard; A Adebayo, P de Glanville, N Beal (Northampton), A Lumsden; M Catt, K Bracken (Bristol); C Clark, G Dawe, V Ubogu, N Redman, A Blackmore (Bristol), J Hall (capt), A Robinson, S Ojomoh.

MIDLANDS: S Hodgkinson (Moseley); S Hackney (Leicester), S Potter (Leicester), I Bates (Leicester), H Thorneycroft (Northampton); P Challinor (Harlequins), M Dawson (Northampton); G Rowntree (Leicester), J Olver (Northampton), D Garforth (Leicester), J Phillips (Northampton), S Lloyd (Moseley), C Barrow (Bristol), N Back (Leicester), D Richards (Leicester, capt).