The British and Irish Lions suffered a triple injury blow during the final Test of their series with Australia on Saturday.
Andy Farrell’s side entered the clash at the Stadium Australia in Sydney on course to secure a historic series whitewash.
The Lions opened the series with a 27-19 victory in Brisbane, before battling back from behind against a resurgent Australia in Melbourne last weekend.
With a first series win in 12 years under their belt, the Lions headed into the final Test awash with confidence but were quickly brought back down to earth when Dylan Pietsch ran over to give the hosts an early.
The evening would subsequently go from bad to worse when England lock Itoje was involved in a heavy collision after 27 minutes.
Itoje was replaced by Ollie Chessum and subsequently failed a Head Injury Assessment (HIA), bringing a premature end to his impressive contribution to the series.
Maro Itoje was forced off in the Lions’ third Test with Australia and subsequently failed a HIA
Tommy Freeman suffered the same fate in the first half and was replaced by Owen Farrell
James Ryan subsequently left the pitch on a stretcher after colliding with Will Skelton
The tourists then suffered even more bad fortune as winger Tommy Freeman was also removed from play in the first half before failing his own HIA.
Owen Farrell was introduced to replace Freeman, with Huw Jones pushed onto the wing.
Freeman had been a doubt to feature before the game after missing out on the captain’s run on Friday due to struggling with a back injury throughout the week.
In a game punctuated by spells of lightning that were severe enough to cause a delay in play, the Lions’ injury woes were not yet over.
James Ryan was forced to leave the pitch on a stretcher in the second half after he was knocked unconscious when a trailing knee from Will Skelton caught him in the head.
Medics ran onto the field immediately to treat the second-row, but thankfully he gave a thumbs up gesture to fans as he was carried away.
