Conor Murray has spoken of his surprise at being named British and Irish Lions captain after Alun Wyn Jones was ruled out of the tour of South Africa.

Jones suffered a dislocated shoulder early in the Lions' win over Japan on Saturday, while Justin Tipuric also misses the tour due to a shoulder injury sustained at Murrayfield.

Warren Gatland turned to Ireland scrum-half Murray to take over as skipper, with Adam Beard and Josh Navidi called up as replacements for their Wales team-mates Jones and Tipuric.

Murray was not expecting to be asked to lead the Lions in what will be his third tour.

Asked if he was surprised Gatland wanted him to step up, the pivot said: "A little bit to be honest.

"I didn't even think about it. I knew that Al was out and then you look around the squad and there are so many contenders.

"Warren asked me just before the cap ceremony and it was surreal. I still don't have my head around it, but it's an unbelievable honour. It's something that I never thought would be possible.

"I didn't think about it long. I said, 'absolutely, it'll be a massive honour. Thank you very much for this opportunity'.

"Then you kind of think about how big it is and then obviously my phone has gone a bit crazy since it was announced.

"I tried to call my girlfriend Joanna, but her phone was on one per cent as usual. Her phone was off and my dad is in Edinburgh, he was out with his friends having a few drinks, and so he was the first person I spoke to.

"My mum's in Kerry and I rang her. She's down with a few friends who were watching the Japan game and they're celebrating too, so it still hasn't sunk in to be honest."

Murray said the loss of Jones is a big blow for the Lions.

"We're very disappointed to lose Alun Wyn. He's been brilliant for the first two weeks. I've known him from the past two tours and he's been incredible. It's a huge loss,” Murray said.

"He came up to me and said 'congrats and just be yourself' and I think that's really important. Growing up, you probably thought you had to try and be a certain type of person to be a leader, but you just have to be yourself.

"Once you have the respect of the group around you, that's a massive plus, a massive thing that can calm you down a bit. If you have the respect of the lads and you do what you do and you do it honestly, then it should be fine.

"It's a huge honour, but there's such a good group of leaders in this squad that makes it less daunting, definitely. There are lads that you can lean on, lads who have captained their country.

"There's massive experience there so you know it'll definitely be a group thing. I'm going to enjoy it and again lean on those boys. It'll take a bit of getting used to, but it's such an honour."