Blow for Lions as Jones ruled out for six weeks
WALES lock alun Wyn Jones could miss out on the Lions captaincy after being ruled out for six weeks with an injury to his left shoulder. The 31-year-old is expected to miss the next five Ospreys games, but will not require surgery on the injury, which was sustained during Wales’s 20-18 defeat by France. Warren Gatland names his Lions skipper on april 19, and with Maro Itoje, Joe Launchbury, George Kruis, Iain Henderson and Jonny Gray all competing for selection, Jones faces a growing challenge to start against the all Blacks. Flanker Sam Warburton is now favourite to lead the tour, with Jones not expected to return until the knockout stages of the Pro12 or the Lions camp on May 15. England coach Eddie Jones suggested Gatland selects four captains — Jones, dylan Hartley, Greig Laidlaw and rory Best — for the three-Test series. Jones said: ‘I would take the captains of the four nations, pool them and make that the leadership group. I would have those four guys lead the team and after the first five warm-up games the leading player would captain the first Test.’ as well as Kruis, Itoje and Launchbury, Jones is hoping 15 England players are selected. The series will run side-by-side with England’s tour of argentina which, according to head of RFU player development dean ryan, will feature a handful of under 20s. ‘I could probably say two or three could be involved,’ said ryan. ‘But that is for Eddie to decide. It would be a big leap for them, but it accelerates your progress.’ The RFU yesterday admitted defeat on plans to host an England vs all Blacks Test on november 4, with the world champions opting to take on the Barbarians at Twickenham instead. all Blacks CEO Steve Tew said: ‘The main thing is getting a game that suits the all Blacks and head coach Steven Hansen is very keen on that being the case.’ John Spencer, chairman of the Barbarians, added: ‘The entire Barbarians committee would like to thank the r Fu for approving this fixture against new Zealand.’ Meanwhile, Wales wing George north has said he is disappointed no action was taken over the alleged bite on him in Wales’ Six nations defeat against France. ‘From my point of view it was disappointing,’ said north. ‘Sometimes the cameras capture stuff and sometimes they don’t. This time it didn’t.’