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British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland will find out in February whether he will continue the 2021 tour to South Africa.
English newspapers are reporting that the prospects for the 2021 British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa look bleak with a decision to be made in February.
Kiwi coach Warren Gatland was supposed to guide the Lions in eight games in South Africa, including three tryouts against world champion Springboks in July and early August.
However, new strains of Covid-19 infection rates in both South Africa and Great Britain and Ireland and ongoing international travel restrictions mean the tournament is now in jeopardy.
Lions managing director Ben Calveley said the Lions board would monitor the situation at its January and February meetings before making a final decision.
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“Unsurprisingly, we are moving forward with our plans based on the latest information we have available,” Calveley said on the Lions website.
“However, given the uncertainty that the coronavirus pandemic continues to cause in both South Africa and the UK and Ireland, we are well aware of the need to make a timely decision on the best way forward; especially so that we can provide clarity to fans who have booked to travel to South Africa next summer, or those who are thinking of making the trip. ”
Calveley said Lions officials will continue to consult with South Africa Rugby and the British High Commission and the Irish Embassy in South Africa “to obtain as much information as possible about this complex and rapidly evolving situation.”
the Daily telegraph reported that the tour “has been plunged into doubt” while The times stated that “the outlook looks bleak” and the Daily mail He said “the outlook for the tour appears to have deteriorated alarmingly in the last fortnight.”
South Africa has recorded more than a million cases of Covid-19 and direct flights between there and Great Britain have been blocked.
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Alun Wyn Jones, on the Lions’ charge against the All Blacks in 2017.
The last tour of the Lions was in 2017 to New Zealand, where they drew a series of three tests with the All Blacks.
Last October, Calveley reported that the level of interest in the 2021 Lions tour was “roughly five times higher than what we have had on previous tours.”
“We sold the level of packages that we sold for the Australia tour (2013) within one day of going on sale, and I think it took us a week to exceed the number of packages that were sold for the New Zealand tour. (2017), ” he told Daily mail.
“Two of the test matches sold out in record time, they were finished when it was time to go on sale, and the third test, because it was played in a large 92,000-seat stadium in Soccer City, took a little longer. of time; about a couple of days. But they are all sold out and are heavily subscribed. Those numbers suggest that not only is there interest, but that people intend to travel en masse. “
