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Ireland confirm nature of injury that ruled James Ryan out of Lions call-up
By Ian Cameron
Ireland have confirmed the reported injury that ruled James Ryan out of a potential British & Irish Lions call-up from head coach Warren Gatland over the weekend.
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Ryan was one of the favourites to replace injured Lions skipper Alun Wyn Jones over the weekend, but Opsreys lock Adam Beard got a surprise call-up it instead. Jones dislocated his shoulder in the opening minutes of the touring side’s warm-up game against Jamie Joseph’s Japan and will take no further part in the tour.
It was then revealed by Irish journalist Cian Treacy that Ryan had picked up an injury in training, ruling him out of a second shot at the Lions.
An IRFU statement confirmed what exactly was wrong with the Leinster second row: “The Ireland squad reassembled on Sunday evening having completed four days of training at the IRFU High Performance Centre in Dublin before dispersing on Saturday afternoon.
“James Ryan has an adductor issue and will be monitored across the week to determine his availability for the Japan game. Ulster’s Michael Lowry will continue to train with the Ireland squad this week.
“The Ireland team to play Japan in the opening fixture of the Vodafone Summer Series will be named at lunchtime on Thursday.”
Josh Navidi replaced Justin Tipuric in the 37-man Lions squad, who left home soil to fly south to South Africa last night.
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The 6’8, 112kg forward made his Ireland debut at 20 years of age coming off the bench against the USA in the Red Bull Arena, New Jersey in 2017. He would score his first international try less than 60 seconds later.
Ryan has gone on to become a fixture in the Irish pack winning 24 caps including four starts in Ireland’s Grand Slam Six Nations campaign of 2018.
He captained the Ireland U20s to the final of the 2016 World Rugby U20 Championships in Manchester, made his senior Leinster debut against the Dragons in September 2017.
