ROB Wainwright's quest to secure a British Lions Test berth against the Springboks begins in earnest tomorrow in the rather rundown arena of the Basil Kenyon stadium in East London and, honour though it undoubtedly is, the captaincy is probably an added burden that the army doctor could have done without at this stage in the seven-week crusade.

Wainwright is much too cultured and diplomatic to have said so, of course, but by his own admission the Englishman, Lawrence Dallaglio, is the current favourite to fill the blindside flank berth in the opening Test in Cape Town on June 21. Arguably, it would have been to the Scotland captain's advantage had he been able to focus utterly on his own performance rather than concerning himself with the trials and tribulations that are often the captain's lot.

At the start of the Five Nations campaign, Wainwright was the stand-out candidate to lead the Lions in South Africa. Very probably his chances were adversely affected by Scotland's below-par showing and there was a time when the wiseacres were convinced that he would not even make the squad.

However, he has been a key player for Scotland since making his belated international debut against Ireland in 1992 and 27 appearances later - 11 as captain - he is recognised, even outside Scotland, as being a thoroughbred back-row man whose optimum berth is on the blindside flank, where he figures tomorrow.

Yesterday, he declared: ''To captain the Lions is the pinnacle of any player's career and I am immensely pleased that challenge has been thrust upon me. So far as my personal ambitions are concerned, I have no doubt that Lawrence is pencilled in ahead of me.

''I'm pretty sure that's true. He has had a much better Five Nations than me, but the Test team will be chosen on the basis of our performances over the next seven games and it is up to me to play my way in.

''If I get in, I get in and, if I don't, then I will be dis-appointed, but I will still be there backing up the team that is playing and who knows what the future holds.''

Wainwright's invocation of team spirit, labouring for the greater good, has become the mantra of the tour thus far. It is early days, but these Lions are determined not to fall into the trap that has bedevilled previous tourists, whereby an unbridgeable gulf was allowed to develop between the Test players and the supporting cast.

''We have players from four countries here and the key to a successful tour will be bringing all of those players together as a unit,'' he said. ''Many of us haven't played together and, maybe, there have been personal animosities in the past, but those have all been ironed out from day one.

''We are all working together for a common goal. Tomorrow, there are 15 players from four nations. I know that the ability, commitment and the skill is there, but communication will be key to getting the best out of each other given that we haven't yet played together.''

Among the ''personal animosities'' to which Wainwright refers there is, of course, the highly-publicised imbroglio involving the Scotland captain and England's Jason Leonard during the 1996 Calcutta Cup match. Leonard was unsuccessfully cited by the Scottish management after Wainwright was laid low by a robust challenge by the England prop.

Wainwright declares: ''Jason and I are on very friendly terms. It has never been an issue. These things happen in a contact sport. I don't think there was, necessarily, any malicious intent in what happened last year. He was cited. It was cleared up and it is all behind us.

''I don't think there is any antagonism. I hope there

isn't. Healthy competition will develop between this group of players as we saw today at training. This will be especially so as the Tests draw nearer, but, at the moment, all 35

players are working towards a common goal.

''I hate to bring money into it, but it is interesting that everyone on this tour will be paid according to the Test results. That is just a small factor which shows that we are all working towards that common goal, which is beating the Springboks.''

Wainwright was a late arrival on the international scene. He was not far short of his twenty-seventh birthday, but it was the time that the Calder-Jeffrey era was coming to an end.

His career has, too, been punctuated by injury - ankle, groin and a fractured cheek being the principle culprits - but at the age of 32 he maintains that he is as fit as he has ever been. ''When you get to my age you always have little niggles, but they are all under control at the moment and, currently, I have the advantage over many players who are here in that I had a three-week rest at the end of the season when Watsonians were knocked out of the cup,'' said Wainwright.

''Obviously that was a disappointment, but it is an ill wind which blows nobody any good and I was able to get down to some serious work on my fitness, for which I am very grateful to Craig Joiner's dad, Mike, who put in a lot of time and effort with me doing personal training on the days that we weren't training with the SRU at Murrayfield.

''He put in a lot of work with me and I am extremely grateful to him. It's standing me in good stead now, especially when you consider the kind of season that a lot of the Englishmen in the squad have just come through.''