>>Bennett: I fear Lions tour may be cancelled
LIONS legend Phil Bennett is worried the current fixture and financial crisis in world rugby could lead to next year’s tour to South Africa being put in jeopardy.
As the home unions begin to face up to a growing cash crisis, Bennett fears they could be forced into a balancing act that might leave the Lions out on a limb. The eight-match, three Test trip to the land of the reigning world champions will net each union around £3m.
But with England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland all sweating over whether or not they can play their Autumn Tests, plus the four matches already held over from this season’s Six Nations due to the coronavirus shutdown, pressure is building on how to shoehorn the matches into the fixture schedule.
If those games don’t go ahead – or are played behind closed doors – then the home countries are in danger of falling into an £80m black hole.
Some officials are already discussing how that could bankrupt the Welsh, Scottish and Irish unions and force them, as well as England, to make re-scheduled home Tests in 2021 their top priority.
“Playing for the Lions is the pinnacle for any rugby player and it would be heartbreaking if the current players didn’t get that opportunity next year,” said Bennett.
“There would then be doubts about when the next tour would ever come around. I hope the people at the top of rugby can resolve the issues that are now looming because of the shutdown in the sport.
“But it’s no good the Lions tour going ahead if Wales, Scotland and Ireland are going to go bankrupt. Those nations have to get money in through hosting international games in order to keep the game going in those countries.
“If the unions go bankrupt, then the grassroots doesn’t get looked after and rugby at that level could simply die. People in Wales are already talking about dozens of clubs disappearing because there is no income coming in.
“It would be a huge shame for the Lions to be shelved next year, not least because I think there would be around 30,000 fans out there. It would be special. But we are talking about the survival of the game itself.”
The Olympic Games have already been pushed back a year, but a delayed tour for the Lions could prove complicated – not just for the 30,000 Lions fans who had been expected to head to South Africa, but also for head coach Warren Gatland, who has a specific one-year sabbatical written into his contract with the Chiefs in New Zealand.
The Lions’ three-Test series against the Springboks has already been hit by the re-scheduling of the Tokyo Games which will now compete for exposure over three weekends starting on July 23, 2021.
Lions tours are a financial lifeline each 12 years for the host nation, either South Africa, New Zealand or Australia.
They keep most of the cash from TV revenue and gate receipts – a convention that bailed out the cashstrapped All Blacks in 2017.