Captain Alun Wyn Jones injured as Lions win tour curtain raiser

The British and Irish Lions beat Japan 28-10 at Murrayfield on Saturday in the curtain raiser to their tour of South Africa but victory was overshadowed by a potentially serious injury to captain Alun Wyn Jones.

The match in Edinburgh, the Lions’ first game in Scotland and against the Brave Blossoms, was barely eight minutes old when Jones went off clutching his wrist after being cleared out a ruck.

But a statement on the Lions’ Twitter feed said the 35-year-old Wales lock had suffered a shoulder injury.

07′ | Lions 0 JAPAN 0
The Skipper Alun Wyn Jones departs the field early with a shoulder injury and is replaced by Courtney Lawes.#LionsRugby #1888Cup

— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) June 26, 2021

Jones’s place in the second row was taken by England’s Courtney Lawes.

The world’s most-capped rugby union international, Jones has started the last nine Tests for the Lions.

And with the tour being relatively short — there are only eight games, including three internationals against the world champion Springboks — it is uncertain for how long Jones will be on the sidelines.

Wales hooker Ken Owens took over captaincy duties on the pitch but England’s Owen Farrell or Maro Itoje could be named as tour skipper if Jones is out for several weeks.

There were more injury worries for the Lions when flanker Justin Tipuric went off to be replaced by Wales team-mate Taulupe Faletau.

It was another back-row blow for Lions coach Warren Gatland, with Hamish Watson having suffered a concussion in training.

On the pitch, the Lions ran in four tries to their opponents’ one in what was Japan’s first international since losing to eventual winners South Africa in the 2019 Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.

Wingers Josh Adams and Duhan van der Merwe both crossed before Ireland’s Robbie Henshaw and Tadhg Beirne went over, with all tries converted by Wales fly-half Dan Biggar.

Duhan van der Merwe of the Lions scores his side’s second try during the match against Japan in Edinburgh on Saturday. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Shortly after Jones left the field, the Lions went ahead when Adams marked his Lions debut with a 12th-minute try.

Ireland centre Bundee Aki surged through the Japan defence, with Adams darting out and then in to score as he stretched over in the right corner.

Biggar, bidding for the Lions’ No. 10 Test shirt added the difficult touchline conversion, and the combined side led 7-0.

They extended their lead in the 18th minute when van der Merwe joined Adams in scoring a debut try.

The South Africa-born flyer collected the ball from the back of a ruck and went in unopposed on the blindside

For all their injury worries, the Lions, in front of a Covid-reduced crowd of 16,500, added a third try when Henshaw powered through a fragile defence, with his side 21-0 ahead at half-time.

Lawes had a try disallowed for losing possession when grounding the ball over the try-line.

But Beirne then became the third Lions debutant this match to mark the occasion with a try, the Munster back-rower running a good line at pace from Biggar’s pass to sprint clear in the 49th minute.

Japan eventually got on the scoreboard just shy of the hour mark when replacement Kazuki Himeno was driven over for a try from the back of a line-out before Yu Tamura’s penalty took the Brave Blossoms into double figures.