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British and Irish Lions: Graham Rowntree rues the loss of Paul O'Connell

Image: Paul O'Connell: Out of the reckoning for Warren Gatland

British and Irish Lions assistant coach Graham Rowntree has been left to rue the loss of Paul O'Connell after injury effectively ended his career with the tourists.

Uncertain

While the Lions have already lost O'Connell, they are also awaiting further news on prop Alex Corbisiero, who is battling to overcome a calf muscle problem. It is uncertain at this stage whether or not he will be fit for the second Test on Saturday. "We will know more in the next 24-48 hours," Rowntree said. "He played very well on Saturday. He stepped up to the challenge very well and was very accurate in everything he did. "It (losing Corbisiero) would be a big blow, but it would be another test for the strength in depth that we've got in the squad. So far, that strength in depth hasn't let us down." Rowntree added: "We are very mindful of training volumes. I can only attribute it (Lions injuries) to the intensity of the opposition. "We've been very accurate with our training. We have a lot of GPS data and heart-rate data. We very much train in short, intense sessions, so it's not from over-training. "Such is the feeling and culture we have within the group, it will definitely bring us together. 'Gats' (head coach Warren Gatland) spoke to the lads three times today about this weekend, how we've got to lift another couple of gears. "I thought we deserved that victory last weekend, but our intensity and accuracy have to go up another couple of gears, and I'm pretty confident we can do that." Watch every Lions game live only on Sky Sports. Click here to sign up or upgrade now.

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