Lions call for Jones after Ferris blow
COACH Ian McGeechan last night stepped in to ease the pain of a double injury blow by drafting Wales captain Ryan Jones into his British and Irish Lions squad.
McGeechan’s plans suffered a setback after Stephen Ferris and Leigh Halfpenny pulled up in training with fresh injury concerns yesterday, just hours before tonight’s tour match with Natal Sharks.
A scan later revealed Ireland flanker Ferris had torn ligaments in his right knee, bringing a premature end to his South African tour.
With England’s Tom Croft the only other recognised No6 in the party, McGeechan wasted no time in calling up Jones, who, ironically, was also a late replacement for the 2005 Lions tour of New Zealand where he went on to star in all three Tests.
“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,” McGeechan said. “He will fit right in as he knows a lot of the players.”
Lions’ medics are now attending to Welsh international back Halfpenny, who pulled up with a recurrence of the thigh injury which forced him to miss the start of the tour. Halfpenny, who returned for the 26-24 victory over the Cheetahs on Saturday, was named as a replacement against Natal, but now he must undergo a scan with Welsh colleague James Hook taking his place on the bench.
“He Halfpenny has aggravated his old injury,” Lions assistant coach Shaun Edwards confirmed. “He recovered very quickly from the last time. It is nowhere near as bad as that, so we will wait and see. Scans are amazing things nowadays, so we will wait to see what that says.”
The Sharks are the Super 14’s second-ranked side but are shorn of a number of Test stars, including John Smit, JP Pietersen, Ruan Pienaar and Adi Jacobs, all of who are stationed in the Springbok camp.