Garry Ringrose will miss the third British and Irish Lions Test against Australia as the centre continues to manage the impacts of the concussion that ruled him out of the first two games against the Wallabies.
Ringrose suffered a head injury during the win over the Brumbies, ruling him out of the first Test in Brisbane, but had been in line to return for last Saturday’s clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground having been named in the side internally.
However, the 30-year-old reported lingering impacts of the concussion while training last Thursday and was stood down from the side, with Huw Jones starting – and scoring – in his stead at outside centre.
Ringrose will now have to again progress through the return-to-play protocols and observe the minimum 12-day stand down period, rendering him unable to feature at Accor Stadium this weekend.
It means that a Test cap will elude the Leinster and Ireland stalwart, a bitter blow for a player that has had to bide his time for this opportunity.
“He’s disappointed, as you can imagine,” assistant coach Andrew Goodman said, confirming Ringrose had been ruled out. “Garry was playing some amazing rugby through this tour and someone you know who it’s been a dream of his for so long to represent the Lions and he’s managed to do that.
“But he wanted to be a Test-match Lion so it’s been devastating for him. To his credit he’s been good around the group. As you can imagine, anyone that knows Garry, he’s a great lad and a team man so the boys have all been disappointed for him. Obviously he’s disappointed for himself but he’s getting around everyone and making sure he helps prepare everyone as much as he can. He’s a real leader for us in terms our backline in particular, so he’s been great.”
The Lions do not have any fresh injury concerns stemming from the second Test and could be boosted by the availability of Joe McCarthy, Mack Hansen and Sione Tuipulotu. McCarthy suffered a foot problem in the first Test and Tuipulotu has been dealing with a tight hamstring, while Hansen’s own foot issue had ruled him out of the two games so far.
The trio all trained to a full extent on Tuesday, though it was a lighter session after the Lions had a day off on Monday having secured series victory with a game to spare.
That day off was always scheduled regardless of the second Test result and they will now turn their attentions to completing a 3-0 whitewash, which has not been done in the professional era.
“[We’ll pick] the best team available to win the series,” Goodman explained of the selection. “That might look like some changes, that might look like consistency. We will see how the boys go through their recovery process over the next couple of days and whatever 23 is picked will go out there and do the best for the team. You’ve got to reward form when guys have been playing well and are match-hardened in those Test matches. It is a balance and I’m sure we’ll have some good discussions as we always have around selecting the best 23 for the group.”
