Ireland centre Garry Ringrose has been ruled out of the final British & Irish Lions Test after a second bout of delayed concussion symptoms forced him back into the 12-day return-to-play protocol.
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Ringrose, who missed the first two Tests against the Wallabies, initially stood down for 12 days after a head knock earlier in the tour.
He returned for the midweek clash against the First Nations & Pasifika XV, only to suffer a recurrence of symptoms ahead of the second Test. Though he’d been named in Andy Farrell’s squad, he was pulled before the lineup went public.
“He’s disappointed as you can imagine,” said assistant coach Andrew Goodman after Tuesday’s session at Shore School in North Sydney.
“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.”
Ringrose’s absence is another blow to the Lions’ midfield stocks, but there was positive news elsewhere, with Mack Hansen, Joe McCarthy and Sione Tuipulotu all returning to full training as the squad eyes a clean 3-0 sweep to close the series.
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#1. JAMES LOWE
Despite a classy offload for Beirne’s try and some composed moments, Lowe was error-prone under the high ball and defensively vulnerable once again. A mixed bag leaning heavily toward underperformance.
BALLS 5/10: “One good flicked offload to Gibson-Park. Spilled a high ball, early in the second half. Composed take and footwork, on 57 minutes. Great step and offload for Beirne’s try. His best, and last, contribution of the game.”
Planet Rugby 4/10: “His try assist was the highlight of an otherwise poor performance from the winger who missed three of his seven tackle attempts, conceded a penalty and struggled in the air. He is a big moments player and produced that with a brutal fend and offload, but far from a complete performance.”
Telegraph 3/10: “Lovely offload to put Beirne over but was another disappointing display. A liability once again in defence and several handling errors.”
RUCK 4/10: “Lowe has looked off the tempo in both tests and today was another story of that. He never got going and was exposed hugely in defence. In attack he was nothing to fear for the Wallabies apart from his assist for Beirne.”
Replacement: Duhan van der Merwe
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