A Long Flight Home

After Great Britain's capitulation in Wellington, scrum half Sean Long has left the Tri-Nations squad and returned to Blighty.








Saturday's 34-4 defeat to New Zealand means that the Lions must now go to Brisbane and at the very least, avoid defeat. That would be a tough task, even with a full strength squad but it then emerged this morning that the architect of GB's win over the Kangaroos in Sydney is heading back this morning.

The official line that came out this morning was that Long had asked permission to return home for "personal reasons" but rumours have been abound since the revelation.

The theory which most fits the reason and the one most of us will accept, is that Long has returned to be with his pregnant partner but more sinister claims have emerged both from the press here and in Sydney.

One story being banded about claims that Long had flouted an alcohol ban on the GB team's Sydney bound flight from Wellington, gambling exploits have also been mentioned - something that earned him a three month ban in 2004 and there is also the claim that Long had become unsettled after reportedly meeting with Australia coach Ricky Stuart over a possible move to Cronulla Sharks.

The Sydney Morning Herald has also put forward the notion of unrest in the GB camp surrounding the hooking role. The SMH has put forward that Long, amongst other players in the camp are unhappy at coach Brian Noble's insistence on starting Terry Newton at hooker, rather than Long's Saints team-mate James Roby.

Whilst I would suspect that the various theories are the result of the press looking for a story that isn't there, I suspect that we haven't heard the last of this. The SMH's "unrest in GB camp" story is the perfect paper seller and look out for plenty of follow-ups to that one leading up to the Brisbane clash.