Tonight's rugby news as Lions fly in new player after double blow emerges
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Andy Farrell, head coach of British & Irish Lions
Here are the latest rugby headlines on the evening of Saturday, July 12.
Lions to call in reinforcements
The Lions have called up Jamie George after Luke Cowan-Dickie and Gary Ringrose were ruled out of the first Test against Australia. Cowan-Dickie could be out for some time after seemingly being knocked unconscious against the AUNZ Invitational team.
It means the tourists have turned to George, who has already trained with the squad prior to them heading to Australia. The England man had been due to start for his country against Argentina on Saturday night but was pulled from the team just hours before kick-off after Farrell made the call. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
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.
And in an additional setback, Cowan-Dickie was forced off in Saturday's 48-0 victory over an AUNZ Invitational XV at Adelaide Oval after appearing to be knocked out during a tackle.
'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.
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'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.'
Cowan-Dickie was driven from the field in the medical cart with his head in a supportive brace after being hit by Lukhan Salakaia-Loto's knee, shortly before half-time.
Luke Cowan-Dickie of the British & Irish Lions is carried off the pitch after being injured
The England front row later waved to fans as he walked around the pitch but he is now likely to face a spell out that means George is heading to Australia.
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.' Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
Gregor Townsend wants Scotland to learn from ill-discipline shown against Fiji
By PA Sport Staff
Head coach Gregor Townsend warned Scotland to clean up their act after a bruising 29-14 defeat to Fiji dented their hopes of a favourable World Cup draw.
The Scots went into the game with high hopes of easing themselves into world rugby's top six, an achievement which would give them a kinder group in Australia in 2027.
However, they emerged from it having learned a harsh lesson as winger Darcy Graham was given a red card after picking up two of three yellows – the other went to hooker Ewan Ashman – to make positive starts to both halves largely irrelevant.
Asked what lessons could be learned, Townsend said: 'Discipline, clearly. There were 14 penalties and three yellow cards and I would imagine most of them are in our control, so that's unusual for us to give away so many penalties and yellow cards.
'That fatigues us when we're a man down, but also gives the opposition opportunities in our 22 and eventually those opportunities told for Fiji and they got the tries.'
Scotland got off to the perfect start when Graham sent full-back Kyle Rowe over with just four minutes gone and debutant Fergus Burke added the conversion.
But first-half yellow cards for Ashman and Graham, who was adjudged to have tackled his man before the ball arrived, either side of a Caleb Muntz penalty for the hosts left the Scots fighting an uphill battle, and tries from Tevita Ikanivere and Kalaveti Ravouvou sent Fiji in at the break with a 15-7 lead.
Tom Jordan crossed within four minutes of the restart and Burke's conversion made it a single-point game, but Jiuta Wainiqolo's touch-down and a penalty try, which also resulted in Graham's exit, proved decisive.
Townsend said: 'I think Fiji deserved to win. They had a lot of opportunities to put us under pressure in our 22. They were physical and obviously they're a quality team, and they showed that last week.
'But we're disappointed in our own performance, that we gave them so many opportunities to put pressure on us. The penalty count was too high, three yellow cards, it makes it very tough to win any Test match. Up against a quality side at home, it's going to be really difficult.'
Townsend was able to take positives from some aspects of his side's play, but admitted their failure to build upon good starts to both halves had proved costly.
He said: 'We felt up front with our scrum and our maul, that was creating go forward. Maybe we could have got more penalties out of it, because we were certainly the dominant team on scrum and maul.
'Outside of that, our defence at times looked really in control. Some very good tackles going in, a lot of effort, and then we just had an offside penalty, a breakdown penalty, and then the three yellow cards in our own 22.
'They have a big effect on what you can do in the next 10 minutes, because you're having to change things around line-out and personnel.'
Borthwick alarmed referee wanted to play on despite injuries
By PA Sport Staff
England head coach Steve Borthwick said he was concerned for player welfare before Saturday's second Test against Argentina in San Juan.
Borthwick met with French match referee Luc Ramos on Friday to ensure player safety is paramount after two incidents in last Saturday's 35-12 win in the first Test in La Plata left him frustrated.
Centre Henry Slade fractured a hand early in the game and despite completing the full 80 minutes has since been ruled out of the tour, while second row Ewels dislocated a finger 'that went through the skin'.
Borthwick, quoted in the Guardian, said: 'Charlie Ewels dislocated his finger, had a dislocation that went through the skin. He goes off, gets the finger reset, stitched, and comes back and plays another 15-20 minutes at the end of the game.
'What was slightly concerning was that in both those incidents the referee was trying to play through, trying to carry on, trying to tell the player to get up, we're carrying on.'
As part of World Rugby's drive to speed up the game, referee for the first Test, Australian Angus Gardner, was keen to ensure play went uninterrupted while both Slade and Ewels received on-pitch medical attention.
'Player welfare is our priority, our number one priority, our number two priority, our number three priority. I think we've got to be conscious of that,' Borthwick said.
'These men work exceptionally hard, they're full of courage. We need to make sure their welfare is looked after. I hope that's the case on Saturday.'
Borthwick, without 13 English players included in the British and Irish Lions' squad, has made only one change to the side which upset the odds to topple Argentina in the first Test, handing a debut to Luke Northmore.
The 28-year-old Harlequins centre is a straight replacement for Slade and will line-up in midfield alongside Gloucester's Seb Atkinson, who impressed on his debut last week.
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The replacement bench is also unchanged with six forwards and two backs named as England bid to make it back-to-back wins before they face the USA Eagles in Washington on July 19.
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