British and Irish Lions call up Jamie George for third tour after Luke Cowan-Dickie injury
Concussion has also ruled out Garry Ringrose for the first Lions Test against Australia next week, leaving Andy Farrell to tinker with his squad before the trip to Brisbane
England and Saracens hooker Jamie George has earned a call-up to what will be his third British and Irish Lions tour after Luke Cowan-Dickie picked up an injury in the final warm-up match before the first Test against Australia.
Head coach Andy Farrell has drafted in cover at hooker after Cowan-Dickie was stretchered off in the 48-0 victory over an AUNZ Invitational XV in Adelaide.
Cowan-Dickie was knocked out of the game attempting a tackle and despite positive signs after half-time, when he was seen smiling and waving to supporters, George has been drafted in before the first Test in Brisbane.
"He's [Cowan-Dickie] good and in good spirits," Farrell told Sky Sports. "He got up straight away off the stretcher. It's unfortunate for him and it looked like a concussion. We'll see what the medics say."
George now travels to Australia, having been preparing to co-captain England in the second Test against Argentina on Saturday, adding to his tour appearances against New Zealand in 2017 and against South Africa in 2021.
Saracens hooker Theo Dan will step up to replace George for England in the starting XV in San Juan, with Northampton's Curtis Langdon joining the replacements.
"We're absolutely delighted for Jamie's selection," said England head coach Steve Borthwick. "This is also a fantastic opportunity for Theo and Curtis, who have both worked incredibly hard and really impressed in training.
"They fully deserve this chance, we're right behind them, and we're all excited to see them go out there and make an impact."
Elsewhere, Garry Ringrose was made unavailable for the British and Irish Lions’ first Test against Australia on Saturday due to concussion.
Ringrose suffered a head injury in Wednesday’s victory over the ACT Brumbies and faces a minimum 12-day stand down period, preventing him from taking part in the series opener in Brisbane.
“Garry had a delayed reaction. He had headaches for a day and it carried on for the next day so he went through concussion protocols and failed those,” Farrell said.
“Unfortunately for him and for us he’s 12 days so that puts him out of the first Test and back in for the midweek game before the second Test (against First Nations & Pasifika XV on July 22).
“You don’t mess around with these things and it is unfortunate for him and everyone else. He’s in good spirits anyway so we crack on.”
Owen Farrell produced an eye-catching 31 minutes in the first appearance of his fourth Lions tour but Andy Farrell limited his praise of his son to “he did OK, as did many others”.
Owen Farrell slotted in at inside centre and worked well alongside fly-half Marcus Smith, providing direction and an extra creative spark through his passing and kicking that led to two tries.
Huw Jones is now favourite to start against the Wallabies at outside centre following Ringrose’s concussion and he was the Lions’ most dangerous player until he was replaced by Farrell.
He gelled well with Scotland midfield partner Sione Tuipulotu and Farrell said: “Huw and Sione were very good. We’ve got nice back-up there.”
Bundee Aki and Ringrose looked poised to start the first Test in the centres but the Lions could choose to stick with established national combinations, so Ringrose’s misfortune might see Tuipulotu and Jones selected as a pair.
“Who knows which way we would have gone because it is true what we said about leaving it open,” Farrell said. “I know people think we had a fixed mind after Wednesday’s game against the Brumbies but that’s not the truth.
“We will sit down and assess that game and then we will have a tough task in picking what’s going to be a good Test side to take on Australia in the first game.”
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