The 29-year-old is part of a six-strong Lions contingent from the Blues that tackles Heineken semi-final opponents Leicester, whose solitary tourist Harry Ellis will feature among their replacements at the Millennium Stadium tomorrow.

Seven Munster players, meanwhile, and the Leinster trio of Brian O’Driscoll, Luke Fitzgerald and Jamie Heaslip clash tonight in Dublin.

Munster scrum-half Tomas O’Leary has already fallen by the wayside, a serious ankle injury ending his tour hopes just three days after Lions head coach Ian McGeechan announced the squad.

And McGeechan can now only hope there are no further casualties as the Heineken Cup and Guinness Premiership competitions hurtle towards their climax.

The Lions depart for Johannesburg on May 24, with their opening game being six days later against a Highveld XV in Rustenburg.

“The Lions takes a back seat for the time being because hopefully we’ve still got some big games left to play,” said Shanklin, ahead of the Tigers clash.

“I just need to stay injury-free and make sure I am on the plane. It will be a nervous month ahead.”