Itoje praises Ringrose's selflessness amid concussion woes 

Ringrose had on Wednesday night been selected by head coach Andy Farrell at outside centre in all-Ireland midfield partnership with Bundee Aki but reported a return of the concussion symptoms that had caused him to miss the first Test.

British & Irish Lions' Garry Ringrose and Duhan van der Merwe. Pic: James Crombie/Inpho

British & Irish Lions captain Maro Itoje paid tribute to the selflessness of Garry Ringrose following the centre’s self-removal from the Test side to face Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground this Saturday.

Ringrose had on Wednesday night been selected by head coach Andy Farrell at outside centre in an all-Ireland midfield partnership with Bundee Aki but reported a return of the concussion symptoms that had caused him to miss the first Test last Saturday as he was coming off the training field at Xavier College on Thursday morning. 

Huw Jones was reinstated to the number 13 jersey he wore in the opening Test victory over the Wallabies in Brisbane last weekend.

Tour captain Itoje, who will lead a Lions team containing a record nine Irishmen in the starting line-up, seven of them from Leinster, praised Ringrose’s team-first actions.

"Firstly, absolutely gutted for Garry,” Itoje said. “I played against Garry at Under-20s and we both had our international careers. To play with him and get to know him over the last couple of months has been a real privilege and honour.

“I'm gutted for him that he's in this position. But, also, it shows the measure of the man to be so selfless. All we ask of all of us is to be selfless and put the team first. When push comes to shove, you see who really does it. Garry is a man who really did it."

Ringrose had sustained the initial concussion against the AUSNZ Invitational XV in Adelaide on July 12 and was stood down from rugby for 12 days. 

He returned to duty as a replacement in the midweek tour game against the First Nations & Pasifika XV at Marvel Stadium last Tuesday and replaced the injured Darcy Graham after just 16 minutes.

Head coach Farrell explained what had caused Ringrose to withdraw from a Lions Test debut.

“It's head-related again. I actually don't know at this stage. It was literally as I was walking off the field, he came to me, and once it's mentioned, that's that.

“So there was no incident. He was feeling good, well in advance of Tuesday, and fit and ready to play. No incident through the (midweek) game at all, nothing yesterday and nothing this morning at all, but with these type of things, players are getting very good at telling the truth of how they feel, so it was a no-brainer to make the change straight away.” 

It is unclear whether the 30-year-old will have to enter into a fresh return to play protocol but Farrell praised his player’s honesty to report his inability to take the field.

“It's tough to do that. It's very easy to keep it to yourself and lie and not be honest and open. It was very big of him and the right thing to do, 100 per cent. For the team as well, not just for Garry.” 

That ethos is what Farrell expects to carry his squad through to the end of this 2025 tour, even though a sizeable chunk of the squad may have by now played their final games, perhaps including Ringrose. There will be no room for players going “off tour”, the head coach said.

“That’s what we promised each other at the start. So you’ve got to hold each other to account in regards to that.

“And when the team was announced yesterday, to see everyone get up and congratulate everyone to a man, it just shows how much they are all in this together. We expect that to get stronger in the next 10 days because all sorts of things are going to happen in between.” 

Ringrose’s Leinster and Ireland team-mate Andrew Porter, promoted from the bench to starting loosehead in Thursday’s team announcement spoke of his disappointment for his friend.

"I only heard that before coming in that he withdrew himself, he wasn't pulled aside by a coach,” Porter said.

"It's incredibly disappointing for Garry, but it shows his character and the player that he is to pull himself aside.

"I think that would be an incredibly hard thing to do given the magnitude of the game, but it's a testament to the player and person he is that he put the team first and if he's not right, he's not right.

"He's looking to let someone who is fit and able to come in to the squad. It speaks volumes of him and who he is to do that."