Ferris ruled out of Lions tour

Ireland back row Stephen Ferris has been ruled out of the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa by injury and Wales' Ryan Jones has been called up as his replacement.

Grand Slam winner Ferris, a strong candidate to clinch a Lions Test place against world champions South Africa on Saturday week, has suffered a knee ligament tear that means he faces a six-week lay-off.

Jones, who joined the 2005 Lions tour in New Zealand as a replacement and ended up playing in the Test series, will link up with the squad in Cape Town on Thursday.

Ferris twisted his right knee during a training drill yesterday afternoon, and a scan subsequently revealed the injury's full extent.

Lions head coach Ian McGeechan said: 'He had the scan on Tuesday morning that showed he had a grade two tear to his medial collateral ligament.

'This usually requires a four to six-week recovery period and is severe enough to mean he will miss the rest of the tour.

'Therefore, with six matches left on tour after Wednesday's match against the Sharks, we believe we need to fly out a replacement as cover for the back-row.

'Ryan is on the stand-by reserve list and has been playing for Wales over the last few weeks in the USA and Canada.

'He will fit right in as he knows a lot of the players and he was a Lions replacement on the 2005 tour to New Zealand.

'In fact, on that tour he showed how competitive he is as an individual by forcing his way into the Test side for all three matches against the All Blacks.'

Ulster forward Ferris made a powerful start in South Africa, scoring tries in each of his two appearances against the Golden Lions and the Cheetahs.

And such was his impact he looked set for an intriguing head to head for the Lions Test number six shirt with England's Tom Croft.

Ferris' dream though, is now over, as he joins a list of players who have fallen by the wayside.

McGeechan saw hooker Jerry Flannery, scrumhalf Tomas O'Leary and Tom Shanklin all fail to make last month's flight to Johannesburg due to injuries, while a 12-week suspension sidelined Munster flanker Alan Quinlan.

For Jones, the call-up comes at the end of what has been a testing season.

He led Wales to the RBS 6 Nations title and Grand Slam last year, but has failed to recapture his form since then.

He was one of three Six Nations skippers who originally failed to gain selection for the Lions trip, being joined by Scotland's Mike Blair and England's Steve Borthwick.

Blair, however, was summoned as replacement for O'Leary, and Jones will now look to make his mark in his probable tour debut against the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth next Tuesday.

The Lions, meanwhile, can now only hope Wales wing Leigh Halfpenny does not follow Ferris out of the tour.

Halfpenny has aggravated a thigh injury that delayed his arrival in South Africa until last week, and was due to undergo a scan as the medical team made a full assessment.