George Martin set to miss Lions tour following ‘almost put a line through him’ Leicester update
England lock George Martin hasn't played any rugby since February 8
England international George Martin faces missing out on British and Irish Lions tour selection after Leicester boss Michael Cheika confirmed that the lock won’t play again for Leicester this season.
The Tigers forward has been sidelined since getting subbed off in the 62nd minute of his country’s February 8 Guinness Six Nations win over France in London.
He was managing a long-term knee issue but damage to a shoulder kept him out of the remainder of England’s campaign, and it has now been suggested by Leicester that he won’t be back in time to play any part in the club’s remaining Gallagher Premiership season.
Martin is unlikely to play any part in Leicester’s Premiership run-in
The third-place Tigers have five regular season matches left and they will hope to then have a semi-final play-off on the weekend of June 6. However, with Martin unlikely to play any part in that run-in, his chances of May 8 Lions squad selection for the tour to Australia have now been greatly diminished.
The 10-game tour under Andy Farrell starts in Dublin on June 20 versus Argentina and it will be followed by their first game in Australia eight days later versus the Western Force in Perth.
Leicester coach Cheika didn’t 100 per cent say that Martin would be unavailable to tour – either with the Lions or with England in the Americas – but he did draw a line under his season at Leicester.
“George – I think you can almost put a line through him for the rest of the season,” said Cheika at his latest weekly Leicester media briefing ahead of Sunday’s visit to second place Bristol. “It doesn’t look like he will come back any time soon. We will always keep trying.”
Asked what this meant for Martin’s summer tour chances, the Australian coach added: “I don’t know about that bit. I’d rather just talk about Leicester, and (you) make your own conclusions off the back of that. The important thing is for him to recover at this stage.”
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