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Touchdown Lions straight into training on arrival Down Under
PERTH (Reuters) -- The British and Irish Lions arrived in Australia on Saturday and immediately set about preparing for their upcoming series with the world champion Wallabies. With no time to waste after their 22-hour flight, Lions coach Graham Henry ordered his players to go from the airport straight to the training field for a two-hour practice session. Henry said he wanted his 37-strong squad to have an early run to help shake off the effects of jet lag ahead of a tour he described as a "huge challenge." The New Zealand-born coach immediately dismissed British media claims that the Lions were favorites to win the three-test series, saying it would be closely fought. "We hope to play to our strengths and hope to find one or two weaknesses in the Australians which we will introduce into our game plan as well," Henry said. "But they're pretty hard to find -- they're the best in the world. "They hold every eligible trophy that they can play for and we are playing them in their own back yard. It's going to be a huge challenge." Lions captain Martin Johnson rejected suggestions the Australian forward pack was a weak link after England beat an understrength Wallaby team at Twickenham last year. "We've got a lot of respect for the Wallabies as a team and you don't get to win a World Cup by having a glaring weakness," Johnson said. "A few people have been saying the forward pack's weak, we don't really see it like that. They are tough all over and I think it will be a real close series." The Lions will play 10 matches on tour including tests against Australia on June 30, July 7 and July 14. Henry has still not named his side for the opening game against Western Australia next Friday but said after arriving he wanted to rest some of his players. "There's one or two guys who've played a lot of rugby recently and we're trying to rest them and another one or two with niggles," Henry said.
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