The England winger, who had to return home early after suffering a broken cheekbone, aired his concerns in a Sunday newspaper.

"Is life with the British Lions as black and tortuous as Matt Dawson made it sound? I can honestly say yes," Luger wrote in a column for Sunday's News of the World.

"Daws was right - Graham Henry has trained us to a standstill.

"My legs have never been so tired, even in pre-season training but that is Henry's decision.

"He's the man and he simply wants to get the job done."

He added: "Lions teams of the past always had a great party off the field - win or lose - but that had vanished.

"The social side of touring now is almost non-existent. We don't need to party - but we do need to relax and maybe the management have not given enough thought to that."

But flanker Lawrence Dallaglio, who's involvement was also cut short through injury, believes the training was no less than what he expected in preparation for a three Test series against the world champions.

"I'm convinced the hardness of the training gave us an edge in the first test," the former England captain wrote in The Sunday Times.

"The Lions management can feel justified in their approach, and what happened yesterday (Saturday) was not the result of being overtrained."

He also had words of encouragement for the Lions as they tried to regroup for the Saturday's series decider in Sydney.

"We lost the second battle but the war is not over," he said. "The series is very much there for the taking."