It’s far from normal but show must go on
FROM the moment we stepped off the plane at ORTambo International Airport, this has not felt like a normal Lions tour. All of our gear was sprayed down with disinfectant at arrivals and we had to wear gloves to pick up our bags.
As we were taking off from Edinburgh, South Africa was just going into a tier four lockdown. Our head of medical, Prav Mathema, addressed the team and reinforced that we were travelling into a country still gripped by the Covid pandemic.
We have not stepped outside of the hotel or training ground this week. On the bus journey to training, we drive past a couple of townships. People are basically living on top of each other.
It’s a real eye-opener and you can see why the rates of infection are so high. There are hardly any cars on the roads. Pretty much everything looks closed.
We have a couple of local security guards who travel everywhere with us. They make the security guys who travelled with us look like pussycats! It’s a different world here and you need guys with local insight. People are just desperate to survive.
In our bubble, we’re quite far removed from the tragic events that are going on around the country. The security guys give us an insight – we’re fortunate to have the protection we have.
Our hotel is a bit of a tourist complex. Normally it has restaurants, shops and casinos but they are closed. We’ve got the whole place to ourselves. It’s a bit of a ghost town but it’s not too different from what we all experienced during the Six Nations.
We get tested frequently. Players, coaches, security, hotel staff… everyone. You wear your masks everywhere. It feels a bit more like the early days of Covid in the UK and people were on edge a little more.
We’re all fully aware of the rules. If one of us breaches the protocols, we’re probably on the first plane home. It’s not like in the UK and Ireland where people have started to get more relaxed. We had some pre-match treats delivered on Friday night – Haribo and Tim Tam biscuits – and even they had to be sanitised.
Four years ago in New Zealand, we were packing our bags and moving hotel every few days. It was proper touring. Here we are more settled, meaning we have a bit more time to chill out.
I spend a lot of time in Patrick ‘Rala’ O’Reilly’s room. He’s the kitman and he’s a bit of an Ireland and Lions legend. If you need socks, toothpaste, chocolate, a cup of tea, anything… he’s your man.
He gets a big suite room because the lads always turn up at his door! Bobby Stridgeon was entertaining us there on Thursday night with a load of card tricks. As things stand, we are here in Johannesburg for two more games. Everything is subject to change though. There is talk about moving everything to Cape Town, so we come down each morning not knowing if we’ll be heading to the airport again.
For now, we just feel fortunate that the games can go ahead. It’s a terrible situation but the Lions tour only comes around here every 12 years and we hope it’s something to take people’s minds off what’s going on.
bit of a distraction from the problems. For that reason alone, I think it’s right that this tour is going ahead.
● THE leadership group have been helping out Conor Murray since he took over as captain. He’s not a big-speech type but he’s a calm voice. He’s opening a new restaurant this week – Morrissey’s in Doonbeg – and asked me to plug it here!