British and Irish Lions 2017: George North and Robbie Henshaw ruled out of tour of New Zealand through injury

The pair will fly home this weekend after suffering injuries against the Hurricanes

Jack de Menezes

Wellington

Thursday 29 June 2017 01:40 BST

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George North has been ruled out of the remainder of the British and Irish Lions tour (Getty)

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George North has been ruled out of the British and Irish Lions tour after suffering a ** injury, joining Irish centre Robbie Henshaw in missing the remaining two Tests against the All Blacks.

Both Henshaw and North picked up injuries in Tuesday’s 31-31 draw with the Hurricanes, and will play no further part on the tour of New Zealand after the Lions confirmed the news on Thursday.

A Lions statement read: “Robbie Henshaw and George North have been ruled out of the rest of the British & Irish Lions Tour due to injuries suffered against the Hurricanes.

“Henshaw suffered a torn pectoral muscle and North a hamstring tear. Both will return home this weekend for further treatment.”

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Henshaw picked up a shoulder injury in the 19th minute and had to be withdrawn immediately, with Leigh Halfpenny coming on in his place and forcing Lions coach Warren Gatland into a back-line reshuffle that saw North move to inside centre.

Although North lasted the full 80 minutes, Gatland confirmed after the match that he had been struggling with a tight hamstring in the days leading up to the final mid-week match, though had proven himself fit to play in a final attempt to force his way into the Test side.

However, that will not happen and North will return home along with Henshaw in what is a double-blow for the Lions.

Both North and Henshaw were considered leading Test candidates before the tour started, yet have not found their best form in New Zealand and missed out on the first Test last weekend as a result. North had been slated for the opening match against the All Blacks after featuring on back-to-back Saturday’s against the Crusaders and the Maori All Blacks, but he was replaced in the side by Elliot Daly following the England wing’s impressive showing against the Chiefs.

Neither were considered for the second Test, with Gatland making four changes for this Saturday’s encounter, three of which are personnel and one positional. Sam Warburton and Maro Itoje are both included in the pack as expected in place of Peter O’Mahony and George Kruis respectively, but the big surprise sees Johnny Sexton come into the side at fly-half, with Owen Farrell moving to inside centre and Ben Te’o dropping out of the starting XV.

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