Samoa wing's shock return

Samoa wing Sailosi Tagicakibau has made a remarkable recovery from a hairline fracture of his right leg and will play for Taranaki against the British and Irish Lions tomorrow night.

Tagicakibau, who has won eight Test caps for Samoa, suffered the fracture on his right leg during the Waikato Chiefs' 37-34 Super 12 win over the Stormers in Cape Town on 30 April and was expected to be out for at least six to eight weeks.

But the 22-year-old has worked hard on his recovery and said: "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and I wasn't going to miss it because of a broken bone in my leg."

The Taranaki pack will be bolstered by the return of former All Black hooker Andrew Hore, flanker Chris Masoe and lock Paul Tito.

Tito was part of the New Zealand Maori team who defeated Fiji last week, while Hore and Masoe were in the winning Possibles side in last Friday's All Blacks trial.

Gordon Slater, who played against the Lions in 1993, is included in a strong front row despite quitting fulltime rugby to return to farming.