A RELAXED Graham Henry was not overly concerned about the latest injuries to his pride of Lions as final preparations for the Australia tour begin.

England's Lawrence Dallaglio damaged knee ligaments playing for Wasps last week, while Bath full-back Ian Balshaw was injured during his club's defeat by Leicester, but the Lions coach said reports back to him were that the injuries were not as serious as first feared.

He said: "Unfortunately, we can't wrap the Lions up in cotton wool. "I missed a phone call about Lawrence on Saturday while I was at a wedding, but the reports are that the injury is not as bad as first thought."

Henry admitted he needed the former England captain in his squad, but refused to be drawn any further and said he was waiting on news from Dallaglio.

He said: "There's no doubt we need him, he has a range of skills which are hard to replace."