AUSTRALIA v LIONS (Third Test decider, Saturday, KO 11.05)

MARK Ring has backed the controversial decision to axe Brian O’Driscoll – but only because the legendary centre doesn’t fit in with the British and Irish Lions’ solitary game plan.

The Irish great – a tourist in 2001, 05 and 09 – has been denied a Lions farewell after being dropped from the matchday squad for Saturday’s deciding Test against Australia in Sydney.

Head coach Warren Gatland has opted for his tried and tested Wales midfield combination of Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies, backed up by the powerful Manu Tuilagi on the bench.

It is a call that Ring, who yesterday started his new role as Cardiff Blues skills coach, understands because of the crash, bang, wallop that the Lions have looked for.

The former Wales fly-half/centre was known for his joie de vivre in the 80s and 90s, a midfield thinker at odds with the juggernauts of today. Ring, whose chances of touring Australia with the Lions in 1989 were hindered by a knee injury, believes that O’Driscoll would have just been a square peg in a round hole.

He said: “The O’Driscoll package just isn’t suited to Gatland’s game plan, especially in the first two Tests when Jamie Roberts, the only out-and-out 12, was injured.

“The game plan has been the same since day one and everybody called it before the Tests. Nothing has changed.

“We knew that the Lions would be attritional and would try to bludgeon the Aussies, who have much more skill, into submission.

“Their game is based totally on being difficult to break down and then dominating with their power and chipping away with Leigh Halfpenny’s kicking.

“The game plan just doesn’t suit O’Driscoll, it’s all about physicality and 15 guys carrying the ball heavily – and the fact that Tuilagi is on the bench shows that there is no Plan B.

“If you are on top at the scrum and lineout it makes carrying and offloads a lot easier. But worryingly the Lions haven’t been on top and O’Driscoll has paid for that.

“At Leinster there are variable attacking options with O’Dris-coll and (Lions fly-half) Jonathan Sexton able to decide and execute the game plan.”

Ring believes Gatland has put his neck on the block by opting to go with what has been termed ‘Warrenball’ Down Under.

The Wales blueprint has brought incredible success in the Six Nations and a World Cup semi-final but has frequently failed to claim southern hemisphere scalps.

“I hope the Lions win on Saturday but if they don’t then the coaches will pay for not having a Plan B,” said Ring.

“The coaches will have left themselves open to a lot of criticism if they lose the series.

“I doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out the pitfalls of their game plan and I believe they needed a better selection mix and more options.”