The vexed issue of the dates and venues for next year's Lions tour to Australia should finally be confirmed later this week. Lions manager Donal Lenihan is currently nearing the end of a two-week trip down under ostensibly to run the rule over venues and accommodation, but also to resolve the tour itinerary.

These protracted negotiations have been running for longer than the length of the tour itself - about three months - and initially stalled over the Australian Rugby Union's demand for a putative 12-game series including three tests. This would have meant a couple of "creative" home line-ups, such as an Australian President's XV and additional travelling to non-rugby hinterlands such as Adelaide.

The Lions tour committee were so opposed to this proposal that Syd Millar and Ron Pickering visited Australia last month and by all accounts secured an agreement to reduce the schedule by two matches. Hence, it is anticipated that the ten-match trip will start during early June, probably against Western Australia in Perth.

Three Tests are scheduled against the reigning world champions and recently crowned Tri Nations champions in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, possibly on June 31st, July 7th and July 14th - with other opposition including Super 12 teams ACT Brumbies, New South Wales Waratahs and Queensland Reds.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground is a probable venue for one of the tests, given its capacity of 110,000, as is the Olympic Stadium in Sydney, which by then may have seen its capacity shrink to about 80,000. Other potential opposition and venues include a Victoria Select XV in Melbourne, Queensland Country in Cairns or Townsville and NSW Country in Goff's Harbour.

However, a couple of contentious issues remained, primarily Australian demands for a midweek game between the second and third tests, as against the Lions' insistence that there be no game in that midweek slot. This objection is on the grounds that their preparations for the final test would be disrupted, and is in part based on the Lions' experiences of the 1997 tour to South Africa which incorporated a midweek game against Northern Free State between the second and third tests.

Furthermore, the Lions are against Australian proposals to play the three Super 12 teams in successive games before the first test. Another, lesser stumbling block, was the actual date of the first match, with the Lions likely to achieve their desire for a Saturday opener on June 9th against Western Australia in Perth as opposed to a June 6th start.

The tour itinerary announcement will be made jointly by Australian Rugby Union chiefs and the British and Irish Lions tours committee.

Wasps skipper Lawrence Dallaglio has called for a tougher stance from referees to coincide with the new format for top flight rugby in England.

The Zurich Premiership kicked off last weekend with a new points system where winning sides receive four points and get a bonus if they score four tries or more.

There is also a change to the way the championship is decided, with the top eight teams competing in the play-offs for a place in the Grand Final at Twickenham in May.

However Dallaglio - who is expected to make his first appearance of the season this week - claims referees must adopt a stance more in tune with the new attacking philosophy of the sport.

"I welcome the new points system with a bonus for tries scored, but I think it must go hand in hand with a refereeing change."