Lions not interested in uprooting tour to UK

Against the backdrop of the threatening Covid-19 situation in South Africa, there have been mutterings about possibility uprooting the tour and finishing it in the UK. 

However, Lions MD, Ben Calveley, has brushed aside this notion. 

The tour is currently in jeopardy as the third wave of the pandemic rips through South Africa. The Lions’ scheduled third match of tour – against the Bulls – has already been called off, as has the Springboks second warm-up test against the Georgians. 

"All the games are important, but the Test series is paramount. We're here in South Africa and our intention is to get the games over the line in South Africa," Calveley told Sky Sports. 

"At the moment there is no intention to deviate from that agreed schedule. 
 
 

"We just very calmly work through the challenges as they present themselves. We take things one step at a time. The focus was to get the Sharks fixture on, which we did. 

"We then turn our attention to the weekend and we know the Bulls can't put a side out, so we are working with the South African Rugby Union to find alternative opponents for Saturday, or if we can't then we'll rearrange that for later in the tour. 

"The approach is to stay calm, focused and take things one step at a time."