Garry Ringrose ruled out of Lions-Australia first Test as door opens for Scotland pair

Ringrose suffered a head injury in Wednesday’s victory over the ACT Brumbies and faces a minimum 12-day stand down period, preventing him from taking part in the series opener in Brisbane.

And in an additional setback, Farrell is set to call up cover at hooker after Luke Cowan-Dickie was forced off in Saturday’s 48-0 victory over an AUNZ Invitational XV at Adelaide Oval after appearing to be knocked out during a tackle.

“Garry had a delayed reaction. He had headaches for a day and it carried on for the next day so he went through concussion protocols and failed those,” Farrell said.

“Unfortunately for him and for us he’s 12 days so that puts him out of the first Test and back in for the midweek game before the second Test (against First Nations & Pasifika XV on July 22).

“You don’t mess around with these things and it is unfortunate for him and everyone else. He’s in good spirits anyway so we crack on.”

Ringrose’s misfortune opens the door to Scotland centres Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu, who both starred in the win over the Invitational XV on Saturday morning. Jones impressed in his 49 minutes on the pitch, while Tuipulotu scored a try at the start of the second half.

Farrell had been tipped to go with his tried-and-trusted Ireland combination of Ringrose and Bundee Aki as his Test centre combination in Brisbane next weekend after playing them together against the Brumbies. He will name his XV on Thursday morning ahead of the clash with the Wallabies