ENGLAND international scrum half Kyran Bracken will join the Lions party in Cape Town tomorrow as a replacement for Robert Howley, who returned home last night after dislocating his left shoulder in the match against Natal last Saturday.

Bracken, who was born in Skerries, but opted to declare for England, was with England in Argentina on their recent tour. But the Lions had difficulty tracing him as he had gone to Tobago on holidays. He is due to arrive back in London this morning and will fly to South Africa this evening.

The Lions, with confidence at a high after the win over South African champions Natal, flew from Durban to Cape Town yesterday afternoon to prepare for the first Test against South Africa at Newlands on Saturday.

There is, however another assignment before that encounter as the Lions take on the Emerging Springboks in Wellington tomorrow. But the Lions management decided not to name the team for that match until today. "We want to keep our options open just a little while longer," said coach Ian McGeechan. "It is quite possible that some of the players who will play in the match will play again on Saturday. We want to give every player a chance, we owe them that, before we finalise the Test team."

It seems as if the Lions management intends to indulge in some psychological warfare as McGeechan said that the team for the first Test may not be named until Saturday morning. "They do not give us anything, why should we give them anything," said McGeechan. But in fact the Springboks named their team yesterday afternoon for the Test. It is on expected lines with just one change from the team that overwhelmed Tonga last Tuesday. That is enforced as second row Fritz van Heerden was injured in the test and the man who came on as a replacement for van Heerden, Mark Andrews is named in the second row.

McGeechan said that despite Howley's injury the Lions will be selecting from a position of strength. McGeechan, coach to the 1989 and 1993 Lions said that the position on this tour differs appreciably from those tours in relation to Test selection and the options open to them.

All four Irish representatives will certainly figure in discussions. Keith Wood is now favourite to win the hooking berth ahead of Barr# Williams. Jeremy Davidson will be contesting a second row berth with Simon Shaw and Eric Miller's outstanding performance on Saturday could see him edge out Tim Rodber at number eight. Paul Wallace, too, is in with a shout for he has played extremely well in his last two matches.

It was a sad Robert Howley who bade farewell to his colleagues yesterday as he went to Johannesburg from Durban en route to London and the rest of the party left for Cape Town. Howley became the fourth player to be ruled out of the tour, following Paul Grayson, Doddie Weir and Scott Quinnell.

Correctly rated one of the best scrum halves in the game and a key man for the Lions, Howley, although bitterly disappointed, was resigned yesterday to his fate. "I knew immediately I got the knock that I was in trouble," he said.

"I tried to play on for a few minutes, but it was pointless. I had a problem with the shoulder before Wales played Ireland, but I recovered from it. Now it probably means an operation."