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Johannesburg - Warren Whiteley's visit to an orthopaedic surgeon has not given the Lions the good news they had hoped for.
Originally cleared to go on a four-match Australasian tour after recovering from the knee injury he picked up against the Blues earlier in the season, Whiteley was then withdrawn from the squad on Tuesday morning after re-injuring the same knee.
The Lions confirmed on Wednesday that their skipper would be visiting an orthopaedic surgeon and that, if the scans suggested that the injury was not serious, he would join up with the squad in Australia as soon as possible.
That, though, was not the case.
"Warren Whiteley has not been medically cleared by the Lions Rugby Company medical team and will not join the Lions on tour until he is medically cleared," the franchise said in a rather evasive statement.
The length of the injury lay-off is still not known, but the signs are not good.
In Whiteley's absence, Franco Mostert will continue to captain the side.
The Lions start their tour when they play the Waratahs on Friday (11:45, SA time) before taking on the Reds, Highlanders and Hurricanes.
Teams:
Waratahs
15 Bryce Hegarty, 14 Alex Newsome, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Michael Wells, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Tom Staniforth, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Damian Fitzpatrick, 1 Tom Robertson.
Substitutes: 16 Hugh Roach, 17 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Nick Palmer, 20 Jed Holloway, 21 Will Miller. 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Lalakai Foketi
Lions
15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Dillon Smit, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Franco Mostert (captain), 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen
Substitutes: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Marnus Schoeman, 21 Nic Groom, 22, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 23 Sylvian Mahuza
