Home Lions series looks only option
THE Lions’ Test series against world champions South africa could be scrapped altogether if it cannot be played in the UK and ireland this summer. it is now accepted that the tour which is scheduled to take place from late June until early august — culminating in a three-match series against the world champions — cannot go ahead due to the pandemic. There has been widespread clamour for a postponement until the same time next year. But the latest indications are that this scenario is facing overwhelming opposition, with logistical challenges deemed to be insurmountable. informed sources have suggested to Sportsmail there is a growing acceptance
that the existing slot must be used or the whole event will be abandoned. It is understood that World Rugby have no desire to mediate and help to broker a complex deal which would involve re-arranging 2022 Test tours which have already been provisionally agreed, such as England’s to Australia and Ireland’s to New Zealand.
The global governing body do not have any direct control in organising these fixtures, although they have to approve them.
The home unions are thought to be refusing to countenance the upheaval which a Lions postponement would cause, partly due to national coaches’ resistance to changes impacting on their 2023 World Cup preparations.
Multiple sources have claimed that the home union chief executives on the Lions board — Bill Sweeney ( RFU), Philip Browne ( IRFU), Mark Dodson (SRU) and Steve Phillips (WRU) — see home Lions fixtures as the only viable fallback plan. They regard matches against the Boks in London, Dublin, Edinburgh and Cardiff as a means of making sure there is a series, even if there can’t be a traditional tour. Also, it would be a means of securing vital revenue in this time of financial turmoil. However, it is also acknowledged that the glaring flaw in that scenario is the ongoing uncertainty created by the pandemic. The home unions’ view is that it is a logical step, as a vaccination programme is being ramped up here while there is no imminent prospect of one starting in South Africa. But they will have no guarantee about being able to welcome the capacity crowds which would go some way to justifying a decision to abandon the cherished tour format. Officially, at this stage, all contingency options remain on the table. So postponement has not been ruled out and neither has the last-resort possibility of fulfilling the original fixtures behind closed doors at the proposed South African venues. But the latter scenario is a non-starter financially and the former increasingly appears doomed, in spite of popular support. A decision is expected within the next month and the spotlight will fall on the four former players on the Lions board: chairman Jason Leonard (England, below, left), Tom grace (Ireland), gavin Hastings (Scotland) and Ieuan Evans (Wales).
All four men represented the Lions and will understand the historic culture and ethos. Naturally, they would surely empathise with other former players who have expressed support for the campaign to be postponed by a year, however complex a task that may be.
If that quartet unite in opposing the apparent will of their unions — that it must be 2021 or bust — then there may yet be a tense negotiation to decide what the Lions’ collective position will be. But in South Africa there is increasing concern that the tour will be lost as British and Irish officials will refuse to look beyond matches on these shores.
Meanwhile, the more pressing priority for the home unions is to finalise arrangements for the Six Nations against a backdrop of heightened, Covid- related restrictions.
For now, the tournament is still expected to take place from February 6 but yesterday the French government asked for additional clarification about the protocols in Britain and Ireland, but they did authorise their national team’s opener against Italy in Rome.