Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx is set to miss at least the first three Tests of the season due to a hamstring tendon tear.

Marx returned to South Africa from the Lions’ Australasian tour after being forced from the field in the eighth minute of their match against the Hurricanes in Wellington last Saturday.

The Lions confirmed on Wednesday that scans had revealed that Marx suffered high grade hamstring tendon tear, and while the extent of the injury does not require corrective surgery, Marx will need at least six weeks to recover.

That rules him out of South Africa’s first Test of the season against Wales on 2 June, and the matches against England on 9 and 16 June.

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