South Africa ‘on its knees financially’
playing a match in Dublin in front of crowds, with the Irish government much further behind in its vaccination schedule. This is why the Lions power brokers want to leave making a final decision as late as possible, but time is running out.
After announcing the destination of the tour, the Lions are likely to confirm details of the itinerary a couple of weeks later. They are still committed to delivering eight games as per their original agreement with Sky Sports and their sponsorship partners. This may now be expanded to a four-test series against the world champions.
The Lions are poised to adopt the option that offers the greatest reliability as well as profitability, which is why they have approached the British Government to underwrite the “home tour”.
The Daily Telegraph understands that the Lions board has yet to receive details of the financial guarantees that the Australian government has informally promised, which could yet prove critical to the final decision.
Moving the tour to Australia, however, is the least popular option in South Africa, where there is a growing acceptance that it will not host the Lions. John Dobson is coach of the Stormers, who are supposed to provide the Lions’ first opponents on South African soil on July 3. However, he is resigned to the fact that the prospects of a tour going ahead in the country are diminishing.
“I think your news about the crowds has been a body blow to that
[South Africa tour] because it appears we will not be in that position in July,” Dobson said. “Rassie Erasmus told us that SA Rugby could make a lot more in the UK than we could here and that was before the announcement. We are on our knees financially. We have spent a lot of advance Lions money to bail out the union.”