South Africa requests that Lions tour go ahead as scheduled

The 2021 British & Irish Lions tour has become an even murkier cloud of uncertainty as the South African Rugby Football Union has reportedly now encouraged the Lions to observe the tour as scheduled and take on the World Champion Springboks in South Africa in empty stadiums, according to The Rugby Papaer.

Just last week, an intriguing new option was placed on the table by Rugby Australia, who offered to host the tournament on their shores, asking for only enough revenue to cover their costs while the rest would be shared between the Springboks and the Lions.

The Covid-19 situation in Australia is such that games would be frequented by spectators, which would, of course, generate a significant amount of cash flow.

Many also believe it would be best to play the series in Britain and Ireland – a scenario in which the Springboks would, in fact, be the tourists. It is likely, however, that, should this course of action be pursued, crowds would not be admitted for the matches, although optimists are predicting that as many as 20 000 spectators could be admitted.

It is vital that the powers that be come to a decision soon, or the tour faces the grim possibility of cancellation.