Ugo Monye will start this afternoon's game against the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth. Shane Williams has recovered from the stomach bug that put him in doubt for the game, but he will take Monye's place on the bench rather than running out in the starting 15.

As Monye is a likely test starter, Williams' illness will have put Ian McGeechan and the coaching staff in a difficult quandary. They'll have been trying to rest Bowe and Monye, who played on Saturday against Western Province and are favourite to start in the tests, but with Williams out, it seems that their hand has been forced. Monye may end up having to play three games in the space of 7 days, something basically unheard of in the modern game.

The Lions management may yet rue their choice to leave Leigh Halfpenny, and even Ryan Jones, un-replaced.

Shane Williams' already super slim chances of starting this weekend's test match against the Springboks have been dealt another blow as the Lions wing has contracted a bout of gastroenteritis.

He will not travel to Port Elizabeth with the matchday 22 for Tuesday's game against the Southern Kings as originally planned, and instead Tommy Bowe travels as cover. Stomach bugs in South Africa are not uncommon and have effected touring teams in the past. It's an extremely contagious disease, so Lions fans will have their fingers crossed that Williams is the only player to be sidelined by the illness.

The management have yet to officially rule him out, but it's unlikely at this stage that he will recover in time for Tuesday's game.

Leigh Halfpenny is set to miss the early stages of the Lions tour due to an existing thigh injury that is more serious than first thought.

He will return to his Cardiff club tomorrow where he will receive treatment for the injury which is more serious than initially thought. Having had a scan of the area today, the injury is expected to take up to two weeks to recover. The Lions management have clarified their view that only fit players should depart for the tour.

A replacement will be announced shortly, but it is expected that following treatment and on the condition that a full recovery is made, Halfpenny will fly to South Africa to rejoin the Lions squad. This will return the squad to it’s pre-injury complement of 37 player. (The touring party dropped to 36 after McGeechan chose not to replace the injured Tom Shanklin.)

The British & Irish Lions will not replace Tom Shanklin in their touring squad, following his dislocating shoulder ruling him out of the tour.

At a press conference at Pennyhill Park in Bagshot, Surrey, Ian McGeechan explained that originally going with 37 men was a safeguard against the possibility of Lions playing in the Heineken Cup final. "When we selected the extra player back in April we were really trying to cover all our bases regarding the Heineken Cup final, where we could have been without 16 players," McGeechan told a news conference to mark the squad's first day together.”

"As it's transpired, for the first two tour games we can cover the squad and really we want to give the opportunity and the responsibility to the players who are there to try to fill that role. "Going back to 36 just gives us the chance to give players and combinations a bit more game time which is so important with so little time before the first test."

Tom Shanklin has been ruled out of the British & Irish Lions tour following his shoulder injury against Dragons on Wednesday night. The 29yo Cardiff Blues centre has been ruled out for 16 weeks and will require reconstructive surgery to repair the damage.

Blues Chief Exec. Robert Norster expressed the clubs sympathy for Shanklin upon hearing the news. “I’m sure I can speak on behalf of the entire Blues family, indeed the entirety of Wales when I offer our sympathies to Tom following his devastating shoulder injury suffered last night that will prevent him traveling with the Lions to South Africa this summer.”

A replacement is yet to be named, but we’ll be bringing you all the latest news and an article covering the possible replacement options for the two injured players and Alan Quinlan should he be banned for apparent gouging.

Cardiff Blues head coach Dai Young has expressed his optimism regarding the shoulder injury suffered by Tom Shanklin on Wednesday night. Although the suspected shoulder dislocation looked very serious he remains hopeful that the injury doesn’t mean the Cardiff center will be missing the flight to South Africa

“We are all keeping our fingers crossed that the injury is nowhere near as bad as it looks. We’re quite confident that it won’t be a problem and he’ll be on that plane. He has a bit of time. Hopefully a long-term injury does not mar an otherwise outstanding performance by Tom as he was our man-of-the-match by a country mile.”

Tom Shanklin looks set to be the next player to drop out of the Lions touring party due to injury. In tonight’s Magners League game between Cardiff Blues and the Dragons Shanklin suffered a dislocated shoulder after a powerful carry down the right flank.

Although the extent of his injury is as of yet unknown, he looks likely to join a growing contingent of players who, originally selected, will now probably not travel. He joins Munster scrum-half Tómas O’Leary on the injury list while flanker Alan Quinlan waits on a disciplinary hearing for what appeared to be a gouging incident. With two and a half weeks until the opening Lions tour match, Shanklin is unlikely to be fit in time.

Keep an eye out here for an article covering the possible replacements for the injured and potentially disciplined players.

Alan Quinlan may be set for a wait before finding out whether or not he is to tour with the British and Irish Lions this summer. Following his citing for making contact with Leo Cullen’s eye-area in last weekend’s Heineken Cup semi-final, the Munster back-row is a doubt pending a disciplinary hearing.

It is thought that the hearing may not take place until May 13th as the European Rugby governing body will require some time to organise a panel.

In other news, Leicester and England fly-half Toby flood is out for six months after rupturing his achilles in the nail-biting game against Cardiff on Sunday. He will play no part in England’s summer tours and given the relative fragility of the Lions squad in the fly-half position, any hope of him joining the tour as a late replacement is now dashed.

South Africa’s injury worries continue to grow with news today that Sharks utility back Francois Steyn is out for six to eight weeks with a knee injury. The first test in Durban on the 20th June is now less than 7 weeks away and the player faces a fitness battle to recover in time.

Following Conrad Jantjes leg break this weekend, Steyn was already pencilled in by many to fill the Springboks 15 shirt. 10 days earlier, the Lions are also due to face the Sharks in Durban and at this point it seems highly unlikely that Steyn will be fit for the mid-week clash.

Springbok head coach Peter De Villiers will also have concerns over a number of other players carrying minor injuries. Fourie du Preez has a calf strain, Andries Bekker a rib injury and Adrian Jacobs a shoulder problem.

South Africa have lost another likely test squad member ahead of the Lions tour this summer with the news that full-back Conrad Jantjes is out with a broken leg. The Stormers player was involved in a collision with Liam Messam of the Chiefs in the early stages of Saturday’s Super 14 game.

Jantjes has been a firm favourite with Springbok head coach Peter de Villiers since he took over the reigns prior to last years tri-nations and was a likely if not guaranteed test starter for the boks.

Jantjes becomes the most recent in a string of injury concerns for the Boks management following the loss of Butch James to ligament issues. Centre Jean De Villiers faces a fitness battle over a groin injury in the latest in a string of unfortunately timed injuries while Schalk Burger also limped off last Saturday with a calf strain. He is due for a scan today to assess the extent of the damage.

Munster’s Tómas O’Leary has likely seen his Lions dreams shattered after a suspected broken ankle just three days after the squad announcement included him as one of three selected scrum-halves. The injury occurred with just 10mins on the clock as O’Leary found himself crushed at the breakdown.

Munster, playing Llanelli Scarlets in their first game since the squad announcement completed the game with Peter Stringer at scrum-half, eventually running out convincing victors. O’Leary’s injury only serves to highlight the considerable potential for injury between now and the departure of the touring squad. With the Magners League, Guinness Premiership and the Heineken Cup all reaching their crescendo’s in the coming weeks, Tómas O’Leary may not be the last player to have the chance snatched by injury.

O’Leary’s Munster counterpart Peter Stringer, England’s Danny Care, Dwayne Peel of Wales and Scottish duo Mike Blair and Chris Cusiter are all possibilities to replace the Irish man if his injury does prove to be as serious as expected.

We wish him all the best with his recovery.

Springbok and Bath fly-half Butch James has been ruled out of the Lions test series due to a tear of his cruciate ligaments. The injury occurred last weekend in Bath’s hard-fought 15-14 win over Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park.

James’ mediocre recent form made the world cup winning stand-off anything but a test certainty, but his experience will nevertheless be a huge loss for Peter de Villiers and the Springboks.

The South African will also miss the rest of Bath’s domestic season as the battle for a play off place and is due to undergo surgery within the next two weeks. All the best Butch.