The Irish centre stood himself down having been selected to start the second Test in Melbourne
Andy Farrell has praised the selflessness of Garry Ringrose after the centre withdrew himself from the British and Irish Lions squad for the second Test due to ongoing impacts of a concussion.
Ringrose had missed the first Test after failing a head injury assessment in the win over the Brumbies in Canberra, but had earned selection in midfield alongside Bundee Aki for the second clash with the Wallabies.
However the 30-year-old experienced issues during the Lions training session on Thursday after the matchday 23 was named, and stood himself down, granting Huw Jones a reprieve.
Head coach Farrell was full of praise for a decision that put both Ringrose’s health and the team first which he believes shows the spirit within his squad.
“Garry was actually selected and unfortunately, in training today, he's had to pull out,” Farrell explained. “We've always said it's about the squad, and nothing but about the squad. And we're delighted for Huw to come in and be ready to go for Saturday.
“It's head-related again. It was literally as I was walking off the field, he came to me, and once it's mentioned, that's that. There was no incident. He was feeling good, well in advance of Tuesday, and fit and ready to play. No incident through the game at all, nothing yesterday and nothing this morning at all, but with these type of things, players are getting very good at telling the truth of how they feel, so it was a no-brainer to make the change straight away.
“It's tough to do that. It's very easy to keep it to yourself and lie and not be honest and open. It was very big of him and the right thing to do, 100%. For the team as well, not just for Garry.”
Sione Tuipulotu is also nursing a tight hamstring, though Aki had been in line to start at inside centre regardless. Neither lock Joe McCarthy nor wing Mack Hansen were considered fit for selection, though the pair will not be sent home with hopes that they may yet be in contention to feature in the the third Test in Sydney next week.
Owen Farrell is brought on to a bench that bears a fresh look, with Blair Kinghorn, James Ryan and Jac Morgan set for Lions debuts after starting the 24-19 win over the First Nations & Pasifika XV on Tuesday night.
Australia, meanwhile, have brought back a fit-again Rob Valetini and Will Skelton into their starting side, and Joe Schmidt has also loaded up six forwards on the bench with the Lions ready for a stern physical challenge at the MCG.
“It's obvious what they're going to bring and why they're selected, so I suppose they're delighted with that,” Farrell said of Valetini and Skelton’s return. “The 6-2 bench just backs that up a little bit, doesn't it? So it's not unexpected.
“We thoroughly believe that we're way better than what we showed, and we've got another chance to prove that.”
Category: General Sports
