Wallabies trip is on say officials

Australia's world-beating rugby union Wallabies gave the green light to their British tour last night, less than 24 hours after the rugby league Kangaroos abandoned theirs.

As proof that they mean business, the Australian Rugby Union has hired a team of crack security personnel to protect the 30-man squad on an eight-match trip which includes Test matches in Madrid, Marseilles, Twickenham and Cardiff.

As league counted the cost of a lost Ashes series, the Wallabies averted fears of an even bigger crisis in union by refusing to be panicked into scrapping their trip amid rising global tension over the bombing of Afghanistan.

ARU chief executive John O'Neill eased the fears after flying from Sydney to Heathrow and on to Dublin for a World Cup meeting. 'I can see no reason why the tour will not go ahead,' he said. 'It would take something pretty dramatic to stop us coming.

'As the governing body and the players' employer, we are confident they are going to be safe. If a player doesn't want to go we would not force him, we would replace him.'

Wallaby captain George Gregan backed the ARU's move to give individual players the final decision. He said: 'If, for whatever reason, players don't feel comfortable, that won't be held against them. That's a great initiative from the ARU.'

O'Neill added: 'We are taking all the precautions we can. Some of our expert security people will travel with the team at all times.'