It has shown no signs of improvement and he faces an operation on the day of the match. Ajax expect Kluivert to be out for about a month, so he seems bound to miss the return leg in Italy. Indeed, Kluivert, who is bound for Milan at the end of the season, may not play for Ajax again.Defender Danny Blind, midfielder Marc Overmars and striker Nordin Wooter are all carrying slight injuries but are likely to play. More doubtful is defender Mario Melchiot who saw an eye specialist on Monday.Ajax’s joint top scorer, Dani, who netted a sensational extra-time goal in Madrid, is unlikely to start the match.Ajax: Van de Saar; Melchiot, Blind, F de Boer, Bogarde; Scholten, Witschge, Litmanen; Babangida, R de Boer, Overmars.Juventus: Peruzzi; Porrini, Ferrara, Montero, Iuliano, Di Livio, Deschamps, Zidane, Jugovic, Vieri, Amoruso..
The Lions party have had mixed notices On the whole they have been bad rather than good. The main criticisms have been that the squad lacks reliable kickers (both line and goal-kickers) and that Martin Johnson is something of a gamble as captain
Two weeks ago I picked my own party. There was no attempt to forecast the selection that was to be made by Fran Cotton, Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer. In the official party, in come John Bentley, Nick Beal, Will Greenwood, Paul Grayson, Matt Dawson, David Young, Peter Clohessy, Tom Smith, Barry Williams, Doddie Weir and Neil Back.
They replace, from my party, Jim Staples, Jon Sleightholme, Denis Hickie, Mike Catt, Jonathan Davies, Gary Armstrong, John Davies, Darren Garforth, Richard Cockerill, Craig Quinnell and Colin Charvis.The comparison cannot be exact because Cotton and his colleagues are filling the positions slightly differently.
They are taking 16 backs and 19 forwards to my respective allocations of 17 and 18 I also wanted three full-backs and three outside-halves. They are taking two in both these positions, with Alan Tait dubbed a “utility back”. Why, I should like to know, is Tait considered more of a utility back than Gregor Townsend, who can play both centre and outside-half, or Beal, who has played much of his rugby as a full-back rather than as a wing, the position in which he has been selected?This brings me to the Northampton question. Grayson was in my party as a replacement for Neil Jenkins if the latter’s broken arm failed to mend in time. But as Jenkins is fit enough to make the trip, there is surely a stronger case for taking Jonathan Davies or Catt, or preferably both of them.Beal is a very lucky young man to be chosen before Adedayo Adebayo, Sleightholme, Hickey or Ken Logan, to name but a few.
