British and Irish Lions 2017: Stuart Hogg ruled out of tour with broken cheekbone with no replacement called up

The Scotland full-back will return to home after suffering a broken cheekbone in a collision with teammate Conor Murray during the victory over the Crusaders at the weekend

Stuart Hogg has been ruled out of the rest of the British and Irish Lions tour (Getty)

Stuart Hogg has become the first casualty of the British and Irish Lions tour since they arrived in New Zealand, with the Scotland international due to return home this week after it was confirmed that he suffered a broken cheekbone in the win over the Crusaders.

The 24-year-old full-back was elbowed in the face accidentally by Lions teammate Conor Murray when chasing his own kick during the 12-3 victory in Christchurch, a blow that forced him off the field with blood pouring from his face.

After seeing a specialist earlier this week, the Lions have confirmed that Hogg has been ruled out of the rest of the tour and will return home from Dunedin, where the rest of the squad are preparing for their match against the Highlanders at the Forsyth Barr Stadium.

"I'm gutted to be leaving the Tour at this stage,” Hogg said on Tuesday. "It is an honour to have been involved in a second British and Irish Lions tour and I have hugely enjoyed my time with the squad and I'm very excited about the potential of this group.

"I'm disappointed to be leaving in this way but wish all the squad the best in the coming weeks and will be cheering them on from home."

With Hogg ruled out of the remaining seven matches, head coach Warren Gatland has decided against calling up a replacement to the squad, having originally named an enlarged 41-man squad to deal with the rigours of the tour of New Zealand and to cover injury fears that Gatland had towards the start of the tour that have not hindered their progress.

"It is hugely disappointing for Stuart to have to return home early and for us to lose one of our touring party,” Gatland said. "Stuart has been a key member of our squad on and off the field and it is disappointing to see injury cut short his time with us in New Zealand.

"We all wish him the best with his recovery and we look forward to seeing him back in action in the future.”

Hogg has been sharing a room with Murray in Christchurch and the two quickly made up after the accidental collision, but that will not ease Hogg’s disappointment with having to head home prematurely from New Zealand, more than a week before the three-Test series with the All Blacks begins.

Hogg had been the pre-tour favourite for the full-back shirt, but had not enjoyed the strongest of starts to the tour and the injury in the 20th minute at AMI Stadium was another blow to his chances of Test selection.


 England's Mike Brown would have been a candidate to replace Hogg (Getty)
 (AFP/Getty Images)

Leigh Halfpenny is now the clear favourite to start at 15 at Eden Park a week on Saturday, with Jared Payne and Anthony Watson covering the full-back position if needed, while both Elliot Daly and Jack Nowell also have experience of playing in the role. Gatland could have chosen to select a replacement in England’s Mike Brown – currently touring in Argentina – or Wales’ Steffan Evans, who is in New Zealand ahead of the game against Tonga on Friday, but has elected to proceed with a 40-man squad.

However, he could still choose to call-up another player is he feels reinforcements are needed or the squad is hit by more injuries in the coming weeks.