蜜芽传媒

Matt Dawson believes the injury to Owen Farrell is "not as big a loss" to the British and Irish Lions as the absence of Billy Vunipola.

A shoulder injury forced Vunipola to withdraw from the Lions tour prior to the squad travelling out to New Zealand, and news today confirmed Farrell will miss the Lions鈥� next game against the Maori All Blacks, and could be out for up to 10 days due to a quadriceps injury sustained in training.

Speaking during the Dawson and Mehrtens Lions show, the 2003 World Cup winner says the loss of Farrell isn't as significant because head coach Warren Gatland has "great cover" in the form of Johnny Sexton and Dan Biggar.

Former All Black Andrew Mehrtens feels the absence of Farrell will be felt by the Lions, describing the fly-half as an 鈥渋conic figure".

Former All Black Mehrtens feels the absence of Farrell will be felt, describing the fly-half as an "iconic figure".

This clip was first broadcast on 5 live Sport, Thursday 15 June 2017.