Garry Ringrose is unavailable for the British and Irish Lions’ first Test against Australia on Saturday after head coach Andy Farrell confirmed he was struggling with concussion. Ringrose suffered a head injury in Wednesday’s victory over the ACT Brumbies and faces a minimum 12-day stand down period, preventing him from taking part in the series opener in Brisbane. And in an additional setback, Farrell is set to call up cover at hooker after Luke Cowan-Dickie was forced off in Saturday’s 48-0 victory over an AUNZ Invitational XV at Adelaide Oval after appearing to be knocked out during a tackle. “Garry had a delayed reaction. He had headaches for a day and it carried on for the next day so he went through concussion protocols and failed those,” Farrell said. “Unfortunately for him and for us he’s 12 days so that puts him out of the first Test and back in for the midweek game before the second Test (against First Nations & Pasifika XV on July 22). “You don’t mess around with these things and it is unfortunate for him and everyone else. He’s in good spirits anyway so we crack on.” Cowan-Dickie was driven from the field in the medical cart with his head in a supportive brace after being hit by Lukhan Salakaia-Loto’s knee, shortly before half-time. The England front row later waved to fans as he walked around the pitch but he is now likely to face a spell out that means an additional hooker must be summoned Down Under as quickly as possible. Jamie George, who is currently on England’s tour in Argentina, trained with the Lions last month but Dewi Lake is already in the same time zone and a shorter flight away, due to being part of the Wales squad that is in Japan. “We will see how things pan out over the next 24 hours. It will be the right person for the squad because we are down to the business end and there is a lot of rugby to be played,” Farrell said. Owen Farrell produced an eye-catching 31 minutes in the first appearance of his fourth Lions tour but Andy Farrell limited his praise of his son to “he did OK, as did many others”. Owen Farrell slotted in at inside centre and worked well alongside fly-half Marcus Smith, providing direction and an extra creative spark through his passing and kicking that led to two tries. Huw Jones is now favourite to start against the Wallabies at outside centre following Ringrose’s concussion and he was the Lions’ most dangerous player until he was replaced by Farrell. He gelled well with Scotland midfield partner Sione Tuipulotu and Farrell said: “Huw and Sione were very good. We’ve got nice back-up there.” Bundee Aki and Ringrose looked poised to start the first Test in the centres but the Lions could choose to stick with established national combinations, so Ringrose’s misfortune might see Tuipulotu and Jones selected as a pair. “Who knows which way we would have gone because it is true what we said about leaving it open,” Farrell said. “I know people think we had a fixed mind after Wednesday’s game against the Brumbies but that’s not the truth. “We will sit down and assess that game and then we will have a tough task in picking what’s going to be a good Test side to take on Australia in the first game.”