Robinson's the man, says injured Luger

Dan Luger followed his shattering exit from the Lions tour last night by predicting that Jason Robinson would make a major impact as his replacement in the Test series against Australia.

Luger's hopes of facing the Wallabies ended when a specialist warned that he would risk damaging the sight of his right eye after a training ground collision with Neil Back caused a double fracture of the eye socket.

The Harlequins winger said: 'I just had to listen to the medical advice. But there are many people in this world who are far more unfortunate than me.' The latest blow in a career plagued by injury clears the way for former rugby league star Robinson to replace him on the left wing in the first Test in Brisbane a week tomorrow.

Luger, who scored four tries in two matches for the Lions, said: 'Jason will cause them far more problems than they will cause him. He's ready and he won't let anybody down.' Injuries have caused the 26-year-old Luger to miss 10 England matches over the last 20 months, including all but seven minutes of the last Six Nations Championship.

He is the fourth Lion to pull out of the tour, following Simon Taylor, Mike Catt and Phil Greening.

Luger's replacement will be Ireland's Tyrone Howe who, after Martin Corry, Gordon Bulloch and Scott Gibbs, becomes the fourth reinforcement to arrive in a fortnight.