I understand the concept of 'laying a platform' which most of the expert observers prattled on about during the first Test with South Africa at the weekend.

But you could see from the first moment that the two sets of forwards first 'crouched,touched, paused and engaged' that the home pack had the upper hand.

Television viewers and fans inside King's Park, Durban, were then treated to the sight of eight Europeans being pushed round a field by a set of giants but when Brian O'Driscoll and Jamie Roberts got the ball in their hands, the Lions looked capable of just about anything.

The two centres lived off scraps until the final 20 minutes but were the best - and certainly most entertaining - two players on the pitch by a country mile.

They carved open the Springboks' back line almost at will and helped create a thrilling finish as the Lions fought back from 26-7 down to get to within five points of the home side.

It made me wonder why, whenever the Lions got the ball in the opening hour, they gave it to the lumberers who ran straight at the Boks' forwards and turned over possession.

If they are to turn the series round in the next two matches they will have to ensure that the ball is moving through the rarefied air rather than attempting to smuggle it forward under a pile of bodies.

DWAIN Chambers stepped into the breach for the GB side at the European team championships in Portugal at the weekend, winning the 200 metres at short notice when Rikki Fifton reported injured.

That, added to his 100m triumph 24 hours earlier, completed a successful couple of days for Chambers who is still struggling to convince many people he should be allowed to run.

His drug ban means he will never be allowed to run in the Olympics and he has been told he will not be in the relay squad for this summer's World Championships.

He is also currently being excluded from racing by the promoters of the major Golden League meetings throughout Europe.

But all that may be about to change with Paris set to offer him a place in their programme next month.

It is a tricky situation for everyone. Chambers has been punished for his past misdemeanours and to prevent him from competing around the continent would be a double punishment.

Of course the fact that he is the fastest European this year and the man most likely to threaten the major players in the sport are making him increasingly difficult to ignore.

ENGLAND duly won the ICC World T20, adding the trophy to their 50 overs World Cup and The Ashes.

No, you are not dreaming, it really did happen.

Unfortunately for the much-hyped men's team, it was their female counterparts who lifted the trophy at Lord's and they were full value for their triumph as they showed they are the dominant force in the game.

I wonder if they could hold some sort of training session to teach the men how to become winners.