Clubs chief insists there is no threat to future of Lions
PREMIERSHIP chief executive Mark McCafferty has poured cold water on fears that the British & Irish Lions’ days are numbered after last week’s announcement of a new season structure.
Lions luminaries such as Sir Ian McGeechan, John Spencer and Roger Uttley have expressed their dismay at the lack of preparation time the 2021 tourists will have under the revamped itinerary.
The 2021 Premiership final will be held on June 26 that year meaning whoever coaches the Lions will not have his full squad together ahead of the flight to South Africa.
Warren Gatland, head coach for the last two trips, has banged the drum about the lack of preparation his squads were given and the next tour is set to be squeezed into five weeks.
And McGeechan says the five-week stint and lack of training weeks could spell the death knell for the Lions.
The Lions were the biggest losers in this week’s reshuffle but McCafferty insists they are here to stay – even in a shortened form.
McCafferty said: “It is always going to be part of the rugby system, for sure. From our point of view, it is about trying to help the Lions and engage a bit more fully with the clubs.
“That is the way forward. The engagement has started earlier and it is better. There is no way the Lions will ever not form part of the rugby system. It is more about preparing in advance and knowing what our issues are.”
McCafferty said he was confident problems that have beset the relationship between the Lions and the Premiership clubs can be ironed out now the two parties are actually talking to each three years ahead of the tour.
He added: “A few years ago we had a ridiculous situation where players preparing for a European final on the upcoming Saturday were being dragged away on a Monday to a Lions do. It led to a conflict. Those are the kind of things we can avoid with sufficient planning in advance. It is small things but those are now coming out on to the table.
“Insurance is another one, we were resolving it almost the day before that trip to Hong Kong before the Australia tour in 2013. I am confident the Lions will move on from that and it is not all one way.
“We need to get a bit more empathetic about some of those things and I think that will improve. It is a complex area and people have strong views.”