THE AILING British and Irish Lions can be saved in the nick of time by the opportune intervention of newly-qualified medical man Jamie Roberts.

That’s according to England’s 2003 World Cup winner Will Green-wood who thinks the powerhouse Wales centre’s storming runs are just what the doctor ordered.

Newport-born Roberts is tipped to provide the antidote with the Lions in danger of slipping into a critical condition after Australia squared the series last weekend.

Winner takes all in Saturday’s third and final Test in Sydney, the 6ft 4in and 17st 5lb Racing Métro recruit facing a battle to be fit with the team being announced this morning.

The Lions’ player of the series during their epic contests against South Africa four years ago, Roberts, 26, missed the first two Tests against the Wallabies with a hamstring injury.

Greenwood hopes Dr James Robson, who saved his life on the 1997 Lions tour after the then uncapped England centre sustained a head injury, and his medical team can get the 2008 and 2012 Grand Slam winner ready.

He thinks the Lions have missed the ‘go forward’ that former Cardiff Blues centre Roberts can provide.

“He has been sorely missed and the Lions’ game plan, which revolves around the relatively simple idea of getting over the gain line up the middle, has been less effective without him,” Green-wood said.

“His absence has meant that the team have struggled to find the rhythm and style they were looking to create.

“In 2009 in South Africa, Roberts was the man of the series. He is a tank of a man – my height and three times as deep.”

Former Harlequins and Leicester man Greenwood, who won the Grand Slam with England in 2003, added: “In the early tour games, you saw someone who understood that he was there to do a job, who was focused, aware that Lions tours are remembered for nothing more than whether they are won or lost.

“He is very much a sharp, balanced cookie.

“He qualified as a doctor while playing professional rugby, a fact that puts him in a different league to pretty much all others over the past ten years.

“Grand Slams, Six Nations championships, the Rugby World Cup, he has delivered when it matters.

“He has been the linchpin for Wales, and that was the role the Lions needed him to fill this time round.”

He continued: “In attack, they need him running the classic inside-centre line.

“All the other centres here are outside centres, including the bull-sized potential replacement Manu Tuilagi, who has had his own injury issues to deal with.

“This means that they tend instinctively to run a line that attacks the outside shoulder of the men facing them.

“Those shoulders are further away from the breakdown, which makes it harder for the supporting players to arrive, and usually when tackles are made, they happen wider out.”