It now looks like the British and Irish Lions’ tour to South Africa is still on.
After months of skinner that the tour might be staged in Britain and even Australia, reports in the UK suggest that there is now a shift in the atmosphere.
The Daily Mail reported on Wednesday that “the Lions contingency plans are on a knife-edge this week as there has been leadership upheaval at a critical juncture and the RFU are supporting moves to resurrect a tour of South Africa”.
The report explains: “Former Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Martyn Phillips has had to be hurriedly brought in to deputise for Lions managing director Ben Calveley, who has been signed off from work duties on medical grounds.
“This disruptive development comes in a week which is believed to be regarded as a deadline for making a decision about the Covid-blighted 2021 tour...
“Now it appears that, with the UK Government seemingly unwilling to underwrite the financial risk of arranging fixtures here [in the UK], the concept of sending the squad to South Africa has been forced back on to the agenda and has gained further traction.”
SA Rugby president Mark Alexander, meanwhile, has pleaded with the government to allow 50 percent spectator entry at stadiums for this year’s British and Irish Lions tour, according to Rapport.
The newspaper reported that SA Rugby was desperate to make sure that the Lions tour took place in South Africa, with Alexander saying: “This [Lions tour] will help our economy get back on track and also help the tourism industry overcome the negative effects brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as stop the loss of staff through retrenchments.
“All sectors of our society must help the economy get back on track.”