Lions consider fourth Test in plan to stage tour
Moving Springbok series to Australia would protect ethos and shield British taxpayer from footing bill
The Lions are considering including a fourth Test in the series against South Africa, where support for staging the tour in the British Isles is gaining traction.
Rassie Erasmus, the South African Rugby Union’s director of rugby, has told leading coaches in the country that moving the tour from South Africa, which is unlikely to be able to host crowds, to the home nations is the most financially appealing option.
The Daily Telegraph understands that the Springboks also intend to bring their “A” team rather than their franchises to provide opposition in the midweek games.
Hosting the tour is increasingly seen as the leading option after the announcement by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on Monday that sporting crowds would return in time for the series. However, some traditionalists on the Lions board still prefer the concept of a real tour, whether behind closed doors in South Africa or to Australia. A final decision will be made next month.
The Scottish government has failed to provide a date for when it believes society will return to normal. The Lions are due to play their first match against Japan at Murrayfield on June 26. There is already virtually no prospect of the Lions
The Government’s roadmap out of lockdown has understandably made the prospect of relocating the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa to the UK more enticing, given the potential of capacity crowds, in England at least, at sporting events by July.
The financial benefits would be significant. As revealed in these pages last month, a feasibility meeting held by the Lions commercial team projected returns from ticketing and hospitality packages would outstrip the original projections for a tour to South Africa – if capacity crowds are allowed by July and August.
Ticket and hospitality prices could be set three times higher in the UK than in South Africa.
“A Lions Test at Twickenham would be seen as a Category A event like a World Cup final,” said one Lions source.
Given the financial pressures on the home unions and their South African counterparts, and the continuing concerns that a tour in South Africa would have to take place at empty stadiums and with the challenges of the country’s Covid-19 variant, it is easy to see why the Lions board could be tempted to relocate the tour.
And yet, with the clock ticking on a decision, this is the moment for the board to hold its nerve. The Lions are built on one concept and one concept alone: touring.
There is an argument it could kick-start the grass-roots game in this country as a “festival of rugby”. And yet the danger is that it would devalue the brand which is in part founded on its scarcity.
The Lions rely on the mystique and unique experience of blending the best from the four home unions on foreign fields.
Lions legends, including Willie John Mcbride, have warned that the concept of a “home” tour would cause irreparable damage and raise fears about the tourists’ long-term viability. Furthermore, on a practical level, the home series option, despite the optimism generated by the roadmap, remains laced with risk and uncertainty.
The Prime Minister warned only yesterday there were no guarantees that all Covid-19 restrictions would be lifted in England on June 21. The Lions are due to play Japan at Murrayfield just five days later.
Yesterday the Scottish government said it would wait until mid-march before giving more details on the easing of restrictions.
With the Republic of Ireland’s vaccination programme lagging far behind the UK rollout, there is little prospect of Dublin being able to host one of the three Test matches.
That has raised the prospect of the Lions playing in one stadium, which would further diminish the “four-as-one” concept, and the jeopardy poses an even more uncomfortable moral dilemma.
Given the start-up and logistical costs of relocating the tour, and the renegotiation of contracts already in place, for the home option to be financially viable the Lions require crowds of over 25 per cent capacity.
That led to the Lions executives making a request to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to underwrite the costs of hosting what would effectively be a Springboks tour. Without that financial backing, the option is not viable. A decision is expected by the end of the week.
Yet should the UK taxpayer really be asked to underwrite the costs of hosting the series here?
Other sports have already raised their eyebrows at the generosity of the £135million winter bail-out package that was given to rugby union. The home unions are also on the verge of closing out a deal with a private equity firm for a stake in the Six Nations.
All the broadcasting and commercial contracts are already in place for the tour in South Africa, and all the financial projects suggest the unions would still make a profit if it went ahead, even behind closed doors.
What the British taxpayer is effectively being asked to underwrite is the profit that the South African Rugby Union would be giving up by hosting a tour without supporters.
It is hard to argue this should be a priority ahead of industries including hospitality, aviation and other sports – including men’s football. And if the DCMS agrees to underwrite the Lions tour that was
not scheduled to take place in the UK, what precedent would it set?
Will the Government underwrite the hosting of the European Championship, Wimbledon, the British Grand Prix or the Open?
Boris Johnson made it clear the roadmap would be based on data, not dates. On that basis, is it worth introducing a major sporting event here that is not in the calendar at a time when events such as Glastonbury have been cancelled?
There is no easy option for the Lions board and it is understood it is not yet close to a consensus. Several former Lions are adamant it needs to remain as a tour. Some board members want to push on with the tour of South Africa, even if it means playing behind closed doors, as that is the reality faced by most elite sport and represents the least risky option financially.
Yet the best solution of all lies in Australia. The country that has almost zero community Covid transmission is advancing plans to host the series with full crowds. If its government is prepared to underwrite the costs, the British and Irish and South African expat communities would provide the atmosphere backdrop and players would get to enjoy the closest experience to a traditional tour. It is promising to generate a £10million return and would secure the Lions touring ethos. Now that is enticing.
The Lions are built on one concept and one concept alone: touring