Wales' captain Ryan Jones was called up to the British and Irish Lions squad on Tuesday after it was revealed that the Irish Six Nations grand slam winning flanker Stephen Ferris would take no further part because of a knee injury.

Jones's original non-selection had been controversial despite him losing some of the form that he displayed when leading Wales to the grand slam in 2008.

Ferris suffered his knee injury on Monday in a training session. It means Jones, who was also called up as a replacement for the previous Lions tour to New Zealand, where he played all three tests, earns a late call-up ahead of the three-test series with world champions South Africa.

"Ryan Jones has been called up to replace Stephen Ferris who unfortunately sustained a knee injury during Monday afternoon's training," said the Lions coach Ian McGeechan.

"He twisted his right knee in a training drill and following a medical assessment it was decided that he should undergo a scan to determine the extent of the injury.

"He had the scan on Tuesday morning that showed he had a grade-two tear to his medial collateral ligament.

"This usually requires a four to six week recovery period and is severe enough to mean he will miss the rest of the tour.

"Therefore with six matches left on tour after Wednesday's match against the Sharks we believe we need to fly out a replacement as cover for the back row."

The Lions play their next match against KwaZulu-Natal Sharks on Wednesday.

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