Ieuan Evans hailed Tomos Williams as an "exemplary Lion" after his British and Irish Lions tour was cut short due to injury.
The Wales and Gloucester scrum-half produced a fine display against Western Force last time out, scoring two tries in an emphatic 54-7 victory at Perth's Optus Stadium.
But he limped off the pitch moments after notching his second try after suffering a hamstring injury.
Ahead of the Lions' fixture against Queensland Reds at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday, head coach Andy Farrell confirmed Williams - who featured as a replacement against Argentina in the tour opener in Dublin - would play no further part on the 2025 tour.
"We're not just going to miss an outstanding player - I thought he played unbelievably well (against Western Force) and it was some try that he got injured by," Farrell said.
"We're going to miss the bloke. We have only been together for a few weeks now but his character is everything that in a Lions tour you want to have in your group. He's very popular amongst the group and that makes it a little bit tougher for all."
And Wales legend Evans - now tour manager for the Lions - could not hide his disappointment for the 30-year-old scrum-half.
"This is desperately sad news for Tomos and we wish him all the very best in his recovery," he said.
"Tomos is an exemplary Lion who has had a brilliant season having joined the tour after being named as Premiership Rugby's player-of-the-season.
"He lit up this Lions tour with both his personality and his talent."
Reacting to Williams' injury blow, Christian from The Welsh Sports Podcast said: "He played excellent coming off the bench against Argentina and looked really sharp in this game against Western Force.
"You were thinking, 'he's got a really good chance of getting in that Test match squad'.
"In fact, he injured himself in the act of scoring, it's really tragic. It's so disappointing for him."
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Toulon and Scotland scrum-half Ben White has been called up in place of Welshman Williams.
White made his international bow for England against Scotland in the 2022 Six Nations and has won 29 caps for his country.
Farrell provided the update on Williams while announced his squad for the clash with the Reds.
Ospreys and Wales forward Jac Morgan - now the sole Welshman in the Lions squad - starts in the back row.
