Bears on alert for final spot

squad. But Premiership Rugby decided ahead of the restart that the final would be treated differently with a back- up opposition to be brought in should a club be unable to fulfil the fixture because of Covid. Bristol, who will fly back from Aix- en- Provence today after being involved in the European Challenge Cup final against Toulon last night, have been earmarked ahead of the other losing semi- finalists Bath by virtue of finishing above them in the table. SOUTH Africa could face the Lions next summer having not played for 20 months, after pulling out of the Rugby Championship yesterday.

The Springboks, whose last Test was in November 2019 against England in the World Cup final, have been left scrabbling around for replacement fixtures in the New Year after withdrawing. South Africa cited player welfare concerns over the decision that comes a fortnight before the tournament is due to begin in Australia.

“We worked out the players needed a minimum of 400 minutes of game time before they could be ready for a Test match,” said Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus. “The overseas- based players had started playing before us and they would have been getting close to that. But many of those have had Covid outbreaks [ at their clubs] which has interrupted the planning. The Japan- based players haven’t played any rugby at all.”