Davies ready to heed call from Lions

Jonathan Davies, the veteran Wales and Cardiff stand-off who was not among the 62 players named in a preliminary Lions squad last month, yesterday confirmed his availability for this summer's tour of South Africa.

The Lions manager, Fran Cotton, watched Davies produce a brilliant defensive display against England last Saturday, and has indicated the player could force his way into the final 35-man party, named on 2 April.

"I am available, and I am delighted to be considered," the 34-year-old said. "Hopefully, I did as much as I could in the one match, and now it is a question of waiting and seeing what happens."

Cotton said: "Jonathan is a candidate for the final party. We left him out of the original list because the reports we had at the time were that he was not playing too well for Cardiff. But Saturday's match was a big plus for him. His decision-making was excellent."

Japan's Jade Stamp Aliens trounced the defending champions, FPD Guardforce Magicians of Fiji, 36-19 yesterday to win the Carlsberg International Rugby 10s tournament in Hong Kong.