LIONS D-DAY WITH SERIES IN BALANCE
THE LIONS are set to discover if the Government will underwrite their bid to host a ‘tour’ in the UK and Ireland, amid growing fears of cancellation.
An initial approach for support did not receive a positive response but Sportsmail understands a decision is expected today.
Sources have indicated there are concerns among South African rugby authorities that if the Government refuse to provide a safety net, the ‘conservative’ Lions board will be panicked into abandoning the entire venture.
Disruption caused by Covid has wrecked the scheduled eightmatch tour culminating in three Tests against the world champion Springboks.
The home unions have been pushing to stage fixtures here, with warm-ups against Japan, the Barbarians, the USA and South Africa ‘A’, before Tests in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin, but this scenario hangs in the balance. Hypothetical itineraries have been drawn up and some venues have been provisionally booked.
If the Government are prepared to deliver the assurances the Lions have requested, it will be all systems go.
Officials are working on the basis that they need crowds at a minimum of 25 per cent capacity to break even. Their hope is that they will be permitted to operate at 50 per cent, but that is not a certainty and the forecast is bleak about the prospect of spectators returning in Ireland.
Multiple sources have claimed the Lions hierarchy are now eager to make a decision but this has raised fears of a cancellation. One source said: ‘It’s highly unlikely without Government support. They don’t want to underwrite the cost. We are moving closer and closer to cancelling.’
In South African circles, there remains a fervent desire to ensure a series can take place somehow, somewhere, but also worries that the home unions will lose patience and pull the plug.
While the offer from Australia to host has lost appeal due to their insistence that the Lions play a Test against the Wallabies, alternative options still exist.
The last resort of playing matches behind closed doors in South Africa is not off the table, but highly unlikely.
Key figures such as England head coach Eddie Jones and his Ireland counterpart Andy Farrell are believed to have made clear they would oppose any attempt to push back the tour to 2022.
Such is the clout of Jones that the Rugby Football Union are understood to have resisted the notion of a 12-month delay.
Any decision made by the Lions board requires agreement from the South African Rugby Union, which would appear to reduce the risk of a knee-jerk cancellation.