Some good news for rugby in SA
Visit by British and Irish stars to take on world champs next year still on track
Comment
AND just like that, out of the gloom that has beset South African rugby came the bolt of lightning confirmation that the British and Irish Lions tour next year is not only happening but is perfectly on schedule.
That means in a fortnight short of one year from now, on July 3, 2021, the Lions will take the field against the Stormers at the Cape Town Stadium, and that would be exactly 12 years since the last time the Lions played in this country – July 3, 2009 at Ellis Park when they thrashed the Boks 28-9 in the dead rubber third Test of a series won the week before by the South Africans at Loftus Versfeld.
As the Covid-19 crisis builds relentlessly to its peak in South Africa, this revelation that the Lions are indeed coming is just the tonic the embattled game needs in this country.
And you would have to think that there is no turning back from the decision made jointly by the Lions and SA Rugby given the mountain of logistics that will be set in motion and the vast sums of money that will be invested.
The stricken tourism and hospitality industry, in particular, will have pricked up its ears that a reprieve is on its way next year in the form of tens of thousands of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh fans, their wallets bulging with pounds and euros.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber and Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus will have long been planning for the biggest rugby event outside of a World Cup, but the challenge for them has become all the more real with no more talk of postponements, and already a major concern for them will be the fact that their top players are in urgent need of rugby.
The Boks obviously have not played since their triumph in Japan, with June’s matches against Scotland and Georgia long ago cancelled and the Rugby Championship indefinitely on hold.
Sanzaar chief executive Andy Marinos is holding out that the Championship will take place in November, possibly in December, but realists believe that Springbok involvement is doomed because of an epidemic that is expected to be at its worst in September and October.
And while rugby in the UK and Ireland is scheduled to re-start on August 14, there is no confirmed date for rugby to resume in South Africa, although SA Rugby have tabled an internal Super Rugby competition that would start in late September, but still requires the governmental green light
So far, the Boks have no warm-up matches scheduled in 2021 ahead of the Lions visit but this surely will change.
Meanwhile, let’s bask in the warmth of the good news that the Lions are en route.
Joel Stransky, who missed out on playing against the Lions in 1997 because he was playing club rugby for Leicester, recently gave insight into just how exciting this tour is going to be.
“Once every four years, players and fans from different nations come together in that part of the world, join hands, put their differences aside and combine as they try to beat one of the old foes from the Southern Hemisphere,” said Stransky, who had many a teammate at the Tigers also play for the Lions, including captain Martin Johnson.
“The Lions are steeped in tradition, culture, respect and absolute loyalty to that magnificent red jersey – it can never be taken for granted or underestimated.
“Next year will be just magnificent – they will come here with a very strong squad and thousands and thousands of supporters will make the journey to enjoy our country and to be part of this great tour.”