Jamie George answers British and Irish Lions SOS after Luke Cowan-Dickie’s sickening injury

Jared Wright
Jamie George and an inset of Luke Cowan-Dickie.

Jamie George and an inset of Luke Cowan-Dickie.

Jamie George has been called up to the British and Irish Lions squad following the injury to Luke Cowan-Dickie in the AUNZ Invitational XV clash.

George has subsequently withdrawn from England’s matchday squad for the second Test match against Argentina on Saturday.

Jamie George called up

Theo Dan will therefore start at hooker against Los Pumas with Curtis Langdon added to the replacements bench.

England Rugby have confirmed that George will stay with Steve Borthwick’s squad for this evening’s match before departing for Brisbane on Sunday.

“We’re absolutely delighted for Jamie’s selection,” said England head coach Borthwick.

“This is also a fantastic opportunity for Theo and Curtis, who have both worked incredibly hard and really impressed in training.

“They fully deserve this chance, we’re right behind them, and we’re all excited to see them go out there and make an impact.”

Cowan-Dickie sustained a nasty head knock in the comprehensive victory over the invitational outfit after he got his tackle technique all wrong and was carted off the pitch.

This means that he will miss the first of the Lions‘ three Tests against the Wallabies, with the squad requiring additional cover.

George now has the opportunity to feature on his third tour, having represented the famous touring side in New Zealand in 2017 and South Africa in 2021.

Meanwhile, there are fears that Garry Ringrose will miss the opener as well after sustaining a concussion in the midweek match against the Brumbies.

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Updated England team

England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Will Muir, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ben Curry, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Fin Baxter
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Alex Dombrandt, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Cadan Murley

Date: Saturday, July 12
Venue: Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan
Kick-off: 16:40 local (20:40 BST, 19:40 GMT)
Referee: Luc Ramos (France)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
FPRO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)

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