“It takes a lot for Alun Wyn to go down, and stay down.”
British & Irish Lions captain Alun Wyn Jones could be out of the remainder of the 2021 Tour after badly injuring his wrist. Jamie Heaslip, commentating for Channel 4, knew it was bad.
The Wales international, who was playing on his fourth Lions Tour, suffered the brutal injury after only seven minutes of his side’s tour warm-up against Japan, at Murrayfield.
Jones was cleared out of a ruck and the damage looked to occur when he landed heavily on his wrist. Play raged on but the captain did not get up and physios raced on the field after a break in play.
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“Let’s hope it’s not too bad for our captain,” Lions assistant coach Gregor Townsend told Channel 4. “It’s never good to see your captain go off like that.”
“It’s a huge blow,” said former Lions captain Sam Warburton on Channel 4. “Even if that is a two-week injury, that could be three or four games he is missing, so Warren [Gatland, Lions head coach] would be looking at who steps in as captain.”
Jones seemed to know the injury was bad and he cut a disconsolate figure as he trudged off the field – replaced by Courtney Lawes. It was reported, at half-time, that the Lions captain had a suspected shoulder dislocation.
Should the Welsh veteran be ruled out of the tour, or is even set two miss two or three weeks of action, locks James Ryan (Ireland) and Jonny Gray (Scotland) would both be in contention as potential replacements.
The Lions raced into a 21-0 lead after 30 minutes but they also lost Justin Tipuric, replaced by Toby Faletau, before Robbie Henshaw ran in their third try.
