Lions tour faces AXE
LEGEND BENNETT FEARS BOKS KO
RUGBY UNION
(main) Owen Farrell tour to on 2017 Lions that New Zealand finished drawn (above)
The Lions – the only global brand in the sport that can dwarf the All Blacks – are due to tour South Africa in 2021 on an eight-match trip that could earn £30million.
But England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are all sweating over whether they can play their autumn Tests, plus the four matches already held over from this season’s Six Nations due to the coronavirus shutdown.
If those games don’t go ahead – or are played behind closed doors – the home nations risk falling into an £80m black hole.
Some officials are already discussing how that would bankrupt the Welsh, Scottish and Irish unions and force them, as well as England, to make rescheduled home Tests in 2021 their top priority on financial grounds.
That would have to mean elbowing out the Lions tour – a three-test series against the Springboks – which would be postponed for a year, or even scrapped altogether. A delayed tour could prove complicated, not just for the 35,000 fans who had been expected to head to South Africa, but also for Lions head coach Warren Gatland, who has a specific one-year sabbatical written into his club current contract with New Zealand’s Chiefs.
Lions tours are rugby union’s biggest money-spinners – but only make serious money for the host country, either South Africa, New Zealand or Australia. With much of the expected £30m gobbled up by the hosts, even after the sponsorship cash has been added up, individual countries end up with only around £2m each.
Former Lions captain Phil Bennett says it would be a huge blow if next year’s plans to face the world champions are shelved.
“Playing for the Lions is the pinnacle for any rugby player and it would be heartbreaking if the current players didn’t get that opportunity next year,” said Bennett.
“There would then be doubts about when the next tour would ever come around. I hope the people at the top of rugby can resolve the issues that are now looming because of the shutdown in the sport.
“But it’s no good the Lions tour going ahead if Wales, Scotland and Ireland are going to go bankrupt.
“Those nations have to get money in through hosting international games to keep the game going in those countries.
“If the unions go bankrupt, then the grassroots don’t get looked after and rugby at that level could simply die. People in Wales are already talking about dozens of clubs disappearing because there is no income.
“It would be a huge shame for the Lions to be shelved next year – but we are talking about survival of the game itself.”
Former England and Leicester full-back Tim Stimpson – part of the Lions squad that overcame the Springboks 23 years ago – is another who fears the Lions face huge challenges in touring South Africa next year.
Stimpson, who was the Lions’ top points scorer on that 1997 trip, said: “Of all the jerseys I wore on a rugby field, the Lions was the one that meant the most to me.
“The first thing that must guide whether or not next year’s tour goes ahead will be health. But the financial situation of the countries here is very worrying if they lose their scheduled Test matches.”