A leading orthopaedic surgeon expects Scotland prop Euan Murray to play no further part on the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa.

Murray suffered a sprained ankle during a bruising 20-8 victory over the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.

Together with fly-half James Hook, who took a knock to his neck and head, Murray is out of contention for Saturday's first Test against world champions South Africa.

Lions head coach Ian McGeechan will name his Test starting line-up later today, a team set to be dominated by up to a dozen players from reigning RBS 6 Nations champions Ireland and last year's winners Wales.

Murray though, is destined to reflect on a tour-ending injury that could see a replacement prop summoned by McGeechan, with three games left after Saturday's opening Test.

"Such lateral ligament injuries/sprains are very common, with one in 10,000 of us sustaining this injury every day," said Simon Moyes, who works out of the Wellington Hospital in London.

"He (Murray) will have been treated initially with RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation).

"He has had an x-ray which has excluded a break. However, he will need an MRI scan to access the severity of the lateral ligament damage and to exclude any other internal damage to the ankle joint.

"I expect Euan will not need an operation and that he will be treated with splint immobilisation, taping and physiotherapy.

"I expect he will be out of action for six weeks."

Fly-half Hook, meanwhile, was a leading candidate for Test bench duty, but he continues to undergo medical assessment after an injury caused by a high tackle.

"I think there was a cynical mark on the game," said Lions assistant coach Rob Howley, as the tourists dusted themselves down back at Test base camp on Durban's sea-front.

"There were a lot of off-the-ball instances that weren't picked up by either the touch judge or referee.

"James had a bump to his neck and head, and it is an ongoing assessment. It was a quite high-ish tackle, being kind, and he is a bit groggy.

"It was a very physical game. There were incidents in the game, particularly with Gordon D'Arcy – twice off the ball – which for whatever reasons were undetected.

"That's probably the most physical game we have played on this tour. We anticipated that type of game."

The Lions will go into Saturday's Test bolstered by six successive wins – their best start to a tour since 1989.

The Springboks though, remain firm favourites for Test series glory, despite having not played a competitive match since smashing England at Twickenham seven months ago.

McGeechan's Test players are set to be told of their selection before training this morning.

If he opts for the side most people expect, it will contain just five players with previous Lions Test experience in Brian O'Driscoll, Stephen Jones, Gethin Jenkins, Phil Vickery and Paul O'Connell.

But the prospective line-up still includes a combined tally of more than 630 caps.