Lions draft in Jones to replace injured Ferris
Ryan Jones was a surprise absentee from the original Lions squad
Also In The News
|
The final of this year's series of the Apprentice is expected to draw an audience of several million when it is screened on BBC1 this evening. |  |
Tuesday, 09, Jun 2009 10:04
Wales captain Ryan Jones has been brought into the British and Irish Lions squad to replace the injured Stephen Ferris.
Ireland Grand Slam winning flanker Ferris twisted his right knee in a training drill on Monday and a scan has revealed that the 23-year-old has a grade two tear to his medial collateral ligament which has a four to six week recovery period – ruling Ferris out of the rest of the tour.
Jones, who was a surprise exclusion from the squad, will now join the squad in South Africa and may have a shot of playing in the first Test match as Ferris was expected to start on June 20.
"Ryan is on the standby reserve list and of course has been playing for Wales over the last few weeks in the USA and Canada," said Lions coach Ian McGeechan.
"He will fit right in as he knows a lot of the players and of course he was a Lions replacement on the 2005 tour to New Zealand. In fact on that tour he showed how competitive he is as an individual by forcing his way into the Test side for all three matches against the All Blacks."
Meanwhile, Wales winger Leigh Halfpenny will have a scan to determine the extent of a thigh injury which has ruled him out of the warm-up game against the Sharks on Wednesday.