Dawson apologises for outburst as Charvis is banned

Matthew Dawson told it as he saw it at the weekend: around two thousand words of condemnatory bile, accusing Graham Henry and the rest of the Lions hierarchy of presiding over the biggest managerial disaster since Brian Clough embarked on his ill-starred sojourn at Leeds United. Unfortunately for the England scrum-half, the Lions instantly produced one of the finest performances in post-war rugby history to beat the world champions of Australia at The Gabba. The scoreline: Henry 1, Dawson 0.

Yesterday, Dawson was in suitably contrite mood. He sought out Donal Lenihan, the Lions manager, and apologised for his rank-breaking behaviour in lambasting the coaching team in a newspaper "tour diary" on the morning of Saturday's opening Test. He then contacted the coaches concerned, and apologised all over again. "Matt feels he has let down the tour, that he overstepped the mark and made an error of judgement," said David Williams, the player's agent. "He also feels he should keep quiet for a day or two." Amen to that.

Dawson gave public voice to the rumbling discontent that has undeniably been a feature of the tour: that the training regime is too ferocious, that Henry's man-management style is unsympathetic, that many players have not been given a fair shot at Test selection. But in so doing, he broke the first rule of rugby touring – that tales are never told out of school – and also contravened both the spirit and the letter of his contractual agreement with the Lions. In addition, his timing was desperate. To point the finger on the morning of a match on which the entire campaign would stand or fall was naïve at best. At worst, it was deeply cynical.

"I have to say I was extremely disappointed with Matt's article," said Lenihan, who confirmed that Dawson would be the subject of internal disciplinary action – most likely a fine. "He was very remorseful when he spoke to me; having looked at it in the cold light of day, he feels he has let himself down," Lenihan said. "Certainly, there are players in the party who are as disappointed as I am with what was said. Right from the start, I would have preferred the players not to write newspaper columns, but there is a legal issue here. If they have agreements that pre-date their Lions contract, there is nothing I or anyone else can do to prevent them continuing.

"Of course, I'd be lying if I said there were no frustrations on a tour like this. We have the best part of 40 fully-fledged international players here; we haven't brought anyone along just for the experience, as often happens when national teams travel abroad. But I have toured Australia as a non-Test player, and I know that as a midweeker you have a role to perform and a contribution to make."

While Lenihan was attempting to deal with the Dawson issue, another problem flared when the citing commission at The Gabba, the New Zealander Steve Hinds, reported Colin Charvis, the Welsh flanker, for dropping his knee into the Wallaby prop Nick Stiles after coming off the bench as a replacement for Scott Quinnell. Charvis appeared before a disciplinary tribunal yesterday and was banned for two matches – a suspension that so complicated the Lions' selection for tomorrow's match with the ACT Brumbies in Canberra that they delayed naming their side.

With Neil Back still suffering from bruised ribs and two other loose forwards, Lawrence Dallaglio and Simon Taylor, invalided out of the tour, there is now an acute shortage of back-row options. The management are reluctant to play any of the Test trio – Quinnell, Richard Hill and Martin Corry – in advance of this weekend's Melbourne Test. David Wallace and Martyn Williams, two open-side specialists, are certain to start tomorrow, with the Scottish second row Scott Murray a possibility for the vacant No 8 berth.

James Robson's medical team were working overtime on Matt Perry, the Bath full-back, who tore fibres in his abductor muscle during the Brisbane Test. Having dislodged Iain Balshaw from the starting line-up, Perry turned in an assured performance and set up Jason Robinson's opening try. After his departure, Balshaw's defensive frailties were exposed by the Wallabies. The selectors hope he will resume running by Thursday.

Whatever the Lions' difficulties, the Wallabies were in a far worse state. Jeremy Paul, the ACT hooker, who injured his knee at The Gabba, will not play again for six months. Steve Larkham should recover from the elbow injury that forced him from the field, but Rod Macqueen, the coach, has called up Manny Edmonds of New South Wales as a precaution. Other additions to the squad include four Waratah forwards who gave the Lions a hurry-up in Sydney nine days ago – the hooker Brendan Cannon, the prop Rob Moore, the lock Tom Bowman and the flanker Phil Waugh – plus the Queensland second row Mark Connors.

Duncan McRae yesterday hit back at critics following his attack on Ronan O'Gara during the match against the Waratahs.

Television showed the Waratahs full-back pinning O'Gara to the ground and punching the Irishman in the head, but McRae insisted that he was provoked. "In the first half I wore one in the gob from O'Gara and I thought: 'That's OK'. In the second half, he gave me another one. Then in a tackle he kicked out at me and I ended up on top of him and I just went at him."