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Ian McGeechan, the man who led the British and Irish Lions to their monumental series victory over South Africa in 1997, has been handed the chance to repeat the achievement against the world champions in 2009. As was widely expected, the vastly experienced former Scotland and Northampton coach was unveiled as the head coach for the three-test, 10-match tour from May 30-July 4 next year.

MotoGP

Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo, second in the MotoGP championship, has been cleared to race in Sunday's French GP after injuring both his ankles in a crash in China less than two weeks ago. The 21-year-old's Yamaha team said in a statement that both ankles were healing well.