This is not a wind up...

The Torygraph has reported today that the search for a new lion mascot for this summer's Lions tour of Australia is finally over.

A team of 12 people apparently took more than 18 months to find 'Bill' - eventually tracking him down to a toy shop in Geneva airport.

The reason the search proved so difficult? None of the other potential candidates were "suitably fierce."

All's well that ends well, however. Bill is "a lion that no-one is going to mess with" and is a "ferocious representative" for the Lions. So there.

In a separate report it is revealed that the tour will cost around £14 million - the most expensive in  the Lions' 125-year history.

Far be it for me to suggest that the two stories might be related.