Lions Injury Woes Continue

The Lions injury list continues to grow with Leigh Halfpenny now joining Stephen Ferris on the casualty list.

British & Irish Lions Tour Manager, Gerald Davies, and Head Coach Ian McGeechan, today confirmed that Cardiff and Wales winger Leigh Halfpenny suffered an injury in training that has cut short his tour.

Commenting on the injury sustained at training in Monday’s session Ian McGeechan said, “Leigh unfortunately hurt his right thigh muscle during Monday afternoon’s training, following a medical assessment it was decided that he should undergo a scan to determine the extent of the injury.”

“He had the scan on Tuesday morning that confirmed a presence of a further muscle injury to his right thigh which will require three to four weeks of rehabilitation which means he will miss the rest of the tour. I am especially disappointed for Leigh as he worked so hard to come back from the set back at the start of the Tour but he has proven his strength of character by the way that he is handling the news and we wish him a quick recovery.”

“Leigh will travel with us to Cape Town and then return to the UK to continue his rehabilitation with the Cardiff Blues. We will not be replacing Leigh as we have enough cover for his position amongst the group of players that we have.”

It was also announced yesterday that Ulster and Ireland backrow Stephen Ferris would now be leaving the Lions tour due to a knee injury picked up in training. Commenting on Stephen’s exit Ian McGeechan said, “Ryan Jones has been called up to replace Stephen Ferris who unfortunately sustained a knee injury during Monday afternoon’s training. He twisted his right knee in a training drill and following a medical assessment it was decided that he should undergo a scan to determine the extent of the injury.”

“He had the scan on Tuesday morning that showed he had a grade two tear to his medial collateral ligament. This usually requires a four to six week recovery period and is severe enough to mean he will miss the rest of the tour. Therefore with six matches left on tour after Wednesday’s match against the Sharks we believe we need to fly out a replacement as cover for the backrow.”