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British and Irish Lions: Wyn Jones out of first Test against South Africa; Rory Sutherland to start

Prop Wyn Jones suffered a minor shoulder injury in Thursday's training session, but is expected to be available next week; Scotland's Rory Sutherland is elevated from the replacements with England's Mako Vunipola now on bench

Cell C Sharks v The British and Irish Lions - Castle Lager Lions Series - Loftus Versfield Stadium
Wyn Jones of the British and Irish Lions during the Castle Lager Lions Series match at the Loftus Versfield Stadium, Pretoria. Picture date: Saturday July 10, 2021.
Image: Wyn Jones has been ruled out of the British and Irish Lions' first Test against South Africa

Wyn Jones has been ruled out of the first Test of the British and Irish Lions series against South Africa after suffering an injury on the eve of the match.

The Wales prop had been due to start in the front row against the Springboks in Cape Town, but damaged his shoulder in Thursday's training session.

Jones is set to be back in training next week and is expected to be available for the rest of the tour, although Lions head coach Warren Gatland expressed his sympathy for the 29-year-old.

"It's really bad luck for Wyn and we all feel for him missing out on tonight's game," Gatland said.

"However, we're confident he'll be back in training next week and have no plans to bring in anyone else at this stage."

DHL Stormers v The British and Irish Lions - Castle Lager Lions Series - Cape Town Stadium
British & Irish Lions' Rory Sutherland during the Castle Lager Lions Series match at the Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa. Picture date: Saturday July 17, 2021.
Image: Rory Sutherland will now start in Cape Town

Jones' withdrawal sees Rory Sutherland elevated from the replacements bench, with the Scotland prop lining up alongside Luke Cowan-Dickie and Tadhg Furlong in the front row.

Mako Vunipola is now included on the bench in Sutherland's place, having initially been left out of the matchday 23 for the match against the world champion South Africans.

Also See:

Revised British and Irish Lions team

15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Ali Price; 1 Rory Sutherland, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Jack Conan.

Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tadhg Beirne, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Liam Williams.

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