No injury call-ups on stand-by, confirms Borthwick
The British and Irish Lions will wait until they touch down in New Zealand on Wednesday before making a decision on Wales hooker Ken Owens for their first tour game next Saturday, but confirmed on Sunday that they will not take any players on stand-by even if he fails to recover from the ankle injury that has troubled him over the last fortnight.
Owens has not played since the first week of May and the doubt surrounding his participation led to suggestions that Dylan Hartley could be handed an injury call-up to the squad before they departed out to New Zealand.
But while Hartley was sat next to Eddie Jones at Twickenham as England beat the Barbarians, Lions forwards’ coach Steve Borthwick confirmed that there are no plans to take Hartley nor any other players outside the 41-man squad as everyone is “in good condition”, though he refused to confirm if Owens would be fit for the first tour match against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians.
“The players who’ve joined us from the games [finals] are fully fit,” said Borthwick. “All the players who were with us last week are in good condition.
“[Owens] did a lot of work last week which was really good. He’s in camp this week and he’s developing really well. There are a few days before the first game and we have a long journey so the assessment will be ongoing.
“The latest report is he is progressing well and we’ve got Rory Best and Jamie George, we’ve got two fully fit hookers and everybody’s going well. We want to assess how they go through the journey, we’ve got a long journey and with all the players we want to make sure they’re in great condition and good to go in New Zealand.
“Ken’s done well, worked incredibly diligently with his rehabilitation and he’s in good condition.”
Borthwick also confirmed that Lions captain Sam Warburton took a full part in training this week, with the flanker still yet to play since injuring his knee on 7 April. The Wales back-row has declared himself fit for the tour, but admitted that he can’t guarantee a place in the Test side, and Borthwick admitted that he is yet to decide a starting pack with head coach Warren Gatland.
“I haven’t been thinking about that,” he added. “I’ve been thinking about a group of players who have an amazing opportunity to play as well as they can. These tours are demanding and we know we need every one of our players to be at the top level to get the results we want.”