The British & Irish Lions have suffered another major blow with the news that Gethin Jenking is ruled out for the rest of the tour of Australia.
The Welsh prop has been struggling with a calf injury he sustained in the Heineken Cup final with Toulon and flew out with the squad injured hoping it would heal in time.
The prop, who played in five Lions Tests over the past two tour of New Zealand and South Africa, was supposed to start against the Reds this morning but withdrew yesterday and further scans revealed the injured wasn’t healed.
He is the second loosehead prop to be ruled out in as many days after Cian Healy was ruled out with an ankle injury.
Alex Corbisiero and Ryan Grant have been called up as cover leaving Saracens Mako Vunipola the front runner for a Test spot.
British & Irish Lions Head Doctor James Robson said: “The expected time for recovery is at least three weeks and given the remaining duration of the tour we felt that Gethin should return home and continue his rehabilitation there.”