Owen Farrell ruled out of the ‘fourth test’

Owen Farrell has suffered a grade one quadriceps strain in training and has been ruled out of the British & Irish Lions match against Maori All Blacks on Saturday evening.

The England and Saracens playmaker will be replaced on the bench by Wales fly-half Dan Biggar.

More to follow.

SQUAD UPDATE: Owen Farrell ruled out of #MABvBIL due to injury. Dan Biggar comes in on the bench.

More: https://t.co/4ViujcI5Du pic.twitter.com/OniHe2bdLG

— British&Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) 15 June 2017

Farrell’s withdrawal is a blow for head coach Warren Gatland, who it is understood planned to use Sexton and Farrell together in the second half in Rotorua ahead of next week’s 1st Test.

Farrell’s fitness will now be closely monitored over the coming days given his status as one of the Lions’ key players on tour.

British and Irish Lions (revised): 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 George North, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Tadhg Furlong), 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Iain Henderson), 20 Sam Warburton, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Elliot Daly

Date: Saturday, June 17
Venue: International Stadium, Rotorua
Kick-Off: 19:35 local (07:35 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Jérôme Garcès (France), Romain Poite (France)
TMO: Ian Smith (Australia)