Plantar fasciitis may rule Joe McCarthy out of second Lions test but Ringrose set for return

On Sunday, the Lions called in another lock, Scotland’s Gregor Brown, as a precaution, to join a trio of fellow Scots drafted in by Farrell from their national team’s New Zealand-based tour

Sun, 20 Jul, 2025 - 10:09

Simon Lewis, Melbourne

The British & Irish Lions are confident Garry Ringrose and Blair Kinghorn will be fit to return to action on Tuesday night when the tourists play the First Nation & Pasifika XV at Marvel Stadium, but Joe McCarthy has emerged as a doubt for next Saturday’s second Test against Australia.

The 27-19 victory over the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday saw second row McCarthy withdrawn after 42 minutes with head coach Andy Farrell explaining the Ireland lock is suffering from an inflammation of the fibrous tissue on the underside of a foot.

“Plantar fasciitis. It was niggling away at him there,” Farrell said. “We got him off. Hopefully we got him off in time.”

On Sunday, the Lions called in another lock, Scotland’s Gregor Brown, as a precaution, to join a trio of fellow Scots drafted in by Farrell from their national team’s New Zealand-based tour to provide cover for Tuesday’s final midweek fixture of the 2025 tour.

Wing Darcy Graham, hooker Ewan Ashman and prop Rory Sutherland, a 2021 Lions tourist, could all feature against the First Nation and Pasifika XV, with Ireland centre Jamie Osborne and prop Thomas Clarkson, as well as England hooker Jamie George, all in line for game time to limit any further injury risk to a potential second Test squad member. The latest addition brings the number of Lions players on this tour to 45.

Outside centre Ringrose and full-back Kinghorn missed out on selection for Saturday’s first Test win over the Australia in Brisbane but Andy Farrell is hoping the backline duo can play their way back into the mix for this Saturday’s potential series decider against the Wallabies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Kinghorn sustained a knee injury early into his start against the Brumbies in Canberra on July 9 and while Ringrose played the full 80 minutes of that game, the Ireland star later reported delayed concussion symptoms and was stood down for 12 days from the night of the match.

Both were ruled out of the Suncorp Stadium clash on Saturday, with Hugo Keenan starting at full-back while head coach Farrell selected an all-Scottish centre partnership of Sione Tuipulotu with Huw Jones at 13.

Farrell is set to name his side on Monday for the following day’s match and he issued a positive update on both Kinghorn and Ringrose.

"Blair's doing well. Blair's doing pretty well, so we'll see,” the Lions boss said. “Garry's good. Garry's going well. Hopefully they carry on that trajectory and could be available for Tuesday."

The only other fitness-related withdrawal on Saturday at Suncorp Stadium was fly-half Finn Russell, who came off on 66 minutes after an impressive performance at number 10 though Farrell did not appear concerned about the Bath and Scotland playmaker’s situation.

"He was cramping a little bit so that's why we took him off," he said of his on-field general, whose contribution alongside scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park he described as “great”.

“I thought the combination of the two of them together, Jamison and Finn, really controlled the game. They didn’t get bored of doing the right thing but when they were able to show the best of themselves, and we know what they have got in the locker in terms of a point of difference, it came out every now and again and that’s the brilliance of the two.”

Farrell made it clear the First Nation & Pasifika game was the next priority, in a game arranged when Melbourne’s Super Rugby franchise the Rebels went bust.

“I suppose for us the whole group shifts our focus to Tuesday night. That’s what matters to us at this point in time.

"We care about the squad and nothing but the squad. That's how it's been the whole time. We’ve never separated once. We’ve been all in everything together. We’ll enjoy this victory tonight together. We travel to Melbourne tomorrow (Sunday).

“We’ll name a side internally just before dinner. Then everyone will roll in on Monday to make sure that team, in an extended captain's run like we've been doing over the past four of five weeks, is (given) as good a preparation as we've had all tour. It matters to us on Tuesday night as a group."