British & Irish Lions
Lions rocked by Jenkins blow
Tom Hamilton in Brisbane
June 8, 2013
Wales' Gethin Jenkins watches on, Wales v Australia, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, December 1, 2012
Gethin Jenkins' British & Irish Lions tour is over © PA Photos
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The British & Irish Lions have suffered their second setback in 24 hours with the news loose-head Gethin Jenkins is returning home with a calf injury.

Ireland loose-head Cian Healy was ruled out of the tour on Friday after sustaining ligament damage to his ankle and a day later, the Lions have lost a second loose-head with Jenkins suffering with a calf strain. The diagnosis of Jenkins' injury will come as a massive blow both to the prop and to the Lions as he never had an opportunity to pull on the red jersey in what would have been his third tour.

Lions doctor James Robson commented on Jenkins' injury, saying: "The expected time for recovery is at least three weeks and given the remaining duration of the tour we felt that Gethin should return home and continue his rehabilitation there."

The news means the tourists have just one loose-head left in their ranks from the original squad selection - Saracens' Mako Vunipola.

He starts against the Reds on Saturday and they have acted quickly to bolster their front-row resources with Scotland's Ryan Grant flying in from South Africa and England's Alex Corbisiero arriving from Argentina.

Gethin Jenkins is heading home
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Corbisiero has barely played any rugby this season, as he has suffered his own injury demons, but after an eventful flight from Argentina - which saw him fly from Salta in Argentina to Buenos Aires, Santiago in Chile, Auckland, Sydney and finally Brisbane - he is raring to go and could be thrown into the mix in Tuesday's game against the Combined Country side in Newcastle.

"It was a long journey but I'm not complaining - I would do it again just to be here," Corbisiero said. "You never like to come in for anyone who is injured and I feel for Cian and Gethin but I just feel so privileged to be given this opportunity. It's been a bit of a whirlwind afternoon meeting everyone and I'm looking forward to going to the game tonight and then getting down to training. I also want to wish England all the best against Argentina today."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Tom Hamilton is the Assistant Editor of ESPNscrum.

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