Murray Kinsella Reports from Brisbane

IRELAND LOCK JOE McCarthy is an injury doubt for the Lions’ second Test against Australia in Melbourne due to a foot issue.

Scottish second row Gregor Brown has been called into Andy Farrell’s squad after McCarthy was forced off injured in the Lions’ first Test win over the Wallabies in Brisbane yesterday.

McCarthy was replaced early in the second half and received attention from the Lions’ medical team on the bench.

Head coach Farrell revealed post-game that McCarthy has plantar fasciitis, which is inflammation of the tissue on the bottom of the foot. It can be a painful affliction and often means players need to manage their training load. 

“It was niggling away at him there,” said Farrell after the Lions’ 27-19 victory.

“We got him off. Hopefully, we got him off in time.”

However, the Lions have now decided to bring in an additional second row as they manage McCarthy’s injury. 

Glasgow lock Brown will arrive in Melbourne this evening, having started Scotland’s 41-12 win over Samoa in New Zealand on Friday.

Brown will land in Australia with Scotland team-mates Rory Sutherland and Ewan Ashman, whose call-ups were announced earlier this week.

The arrival of the Scottish trio means that the Lions will have a 45-man squad in Australia.

As Farrell has made a raft of call-ups over the past week, it has become clear that the Lions boss doesn’t want to risk Test frontliners in Tuesday’s final midweek game against the First Nations & Pasifika XV in Melbourne. 

Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt was asked last night whether he thinks the Lions having to play on Tuesday would give the hosts an edge ahead of the second Test, but he rubbished that idea in comical style.

“They’ve got 44 players,” said Schmidt, speaking before Brown’s call-up. “So I don’t really see it as an edge.

“I’m not great at maths, I was an English teacher. But 44 players still leaves them with 21 that don’t have to play on Tuesday night.

“So I think they’ll roll into the weekend pretty well.”