Lions are still committed to ‘traditional’ South Africa tour – Leonard

JASON LEONARD, chairman of the Lions, says the board remains committed to staging a “traditional tour of South Africa” this summer but may have to wait up to two months to make a final decision on whether that is possible because of the pandemic restrictions.

The Lions board had been expected to make a final decision on the future of the tour by mid-February but Leonard said the board was determined to delay the decision as late as possible in order to get “the best possible solution” based on the latest information.

Contingency plans to stage the series in the UK and Ireland have also been progressing, while Australia have also offered to host the tour that is scheduled for July and August. If the tour goes ahead to South Africa as scheduled, the matches may have to be behind closed doors.

Leonard, capped five times for the Lions across three tours, 1993, 1997 and 2001, said the board was still progressing with their plans and were in constant dialogue with all their stakeholders.

“It is all fluid, there could be a decision next week, there could be one in four, six or eight weeks’ time,” said Leonard.

“There is nothing on the table at this moment in time where we are saying ‘this is what we need to do’.

Working

“We are still working with all involved to give ourselves the best option of hopefully trying to provide a traditional Lions tour – at least as much as a traditional Lions tour as we possibly can. Obviously, it is not a traditional year so a traditional Lions tour could well be impossible to deliver.”

As to if he had a preference to whether the tour should go ahead if it meant playing matches behind closed doors, or switching the series to the UK and Ireland, Leonard added: “You can’t discuss an option in isolation because then that is a little bit misleading.

“I think from all concerned, until someone tells us it is not on, you want to deliver a tour in South Africa this summer.

“That might be taken away from us. I don’t have a crystal ball. All the other options, which are great options, we have got to go through them. If that is not available, then what would the alternative be?

“We still don’t know the answer. Let’s just say, the borders are shut again. The players might not be able to get into the country. We can only work with where we are at this moment in time on the information that we have got.

“At the end of the day, we are all striving to see what would possibly be the best solution. We will do whatever it takes.” (© Telegraph Media Group Limited, 2021)