Lions tour of South Africa given the green light

THE British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa will go ahead as planned next July and August according to organisers, who have concluded that the threat of coronavirus will have subsided sufficiently by that point for it not to be a major public health issue.

The tour will take place at the same time as the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, which will run from July 23 to August 8.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a lot of disruption to the sporting calendar, but after extensive discussions we are now able to confirm that the Tour dates are as previously announced,” said Ben Calveley, Lions’ managing director. “An enormous amount of planning, especially from a logistical perspective, goes into putting on a Lions series, so it was crucial that a decision was agreed upon in good time. I am particularly pleased that we are able to provide some clarity for all those Lions supporters eager to travel to South Africa next summer.”

Scotland have been peripheral contributors to the Lions on recent tours, with Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour and Greig Laidlaw the only players in the party which flew out to New Zealand in 2017. In fact, two or three players in the initial squad has been the norm since 1997 and the last Scot to start a Lions Test was Tom Smith back in 2001. However, hopes are high that 2021 could be a bumper year for the Scots with Hogg, Finn Russell, Rory Sutherland, Stuart McInally, Hamish Watson and Jamie Ritchie among the leading contenders to make it into Warren Gatland’s squad.