CAPE TOWN – British & Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland has confirmed that captain Alun Wyn Jones has been ruled out of the Series against the Springboks with a dislocated shoulder.
Jones left the field in the seventh minute of their warm-up match against Japan at Murrayfield after sustaining the injury at a ruck.
Jones, the most capped international player of all time, was replaced by England lock Courtney, with Gatland saying they will be calling up a replacement to fly out to South Africa on Sunday.
“The shoulder was dislocated, they got it back in pretty easily. We’ll get it scanned, but with a dislocated shoulder it is never good news. We’ll look at getting someone on the plane tomorrow.
“Prognosis is best case scenario is he might be okay for the first Test (at Cape Town on July 24).
"However, we've had a chat and it looks like we're going to have to replace him. It's devastating news.
“He’ll be gutted, it’s very disappointing for him. But you’ve got to put that behind you and move on as quickly as you possibly can.
“We’re discussing who to call up at the moment with the coaches, but I got called away for this press conference.”
Jones wasn’t the only one who had to leave the pitch due to injury in their 1888 Cup victory.
Back rowers Justin Tipuric and Jack Conan were also taken off. Tipuric also picked up a shoulder injury and went off in the 21st minute, while Conan was substituted as a precautionary measure.
“He (Tipuric) got a sting in the shoulder. We’re pretty confident that he’s going to be ok.”
“Just before kick-off, Jack Conan’s hamstring was a little bit tight,” Gatland explained. “He did brilliantly to get through 70 minutes and we just made that decision to take him off and play with 14 men for the last 10 minutes.
“Once that hamstring tightened up, it wasn’t worth losing potentially another player before we even got on the plane.”
IOL Sport