TESTING TIME AHEAD
Shadow Boks lie in wait as fears grow over injury to fly-half Finn
THE Lions settled into their bio-secure coastal base outside Cape Town yesterday and began hastily preparing for what may become an unofficial first Test on Wednesday.
Following their rout of the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday — when it was revealed that Finn Russell is a major doubt for the first Test on July 24 with an Achilles injury — the tourists escaped the Covid hotspots of Gauteng and flew south, minus five of their party who remain in isolation in Johannesburg.
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend, who is senior assistant to Warren Gatland, has had to stay behind for a further 72 hours, along with a player and three other staff.
It is not what the Lions wanted, but they are learning to adapt on this virus-stalked crusade in South Africa. The next complication could be a steep rise in on-field intensity, given the way the schedule for this week is taking shape.
Gatland had thought fixtures might be switched around so his squad would take on the Stormers in their next outing, but instead they could be confronted by a shadow Springboks side, under the guise of South Africa A.
The Boks emerged from their six-day lockdown to resume training yesterday, despite the outbreak spreading to captain Siya Kolisi and five of his team-mates. There have now been more than 20 positive cases in the home camp, with Kolisi joining head coach Jacques Nienaber in being withdrawn from hands-on duties.
But Sportsmail understands 36 players were available for training yesterday and, providing further tests come back negative, the fixture against the Lions on Wednesday will go ahead.
Nominally, it will be South Africa ‘A’, but it is likely that many senior men will appear. After the second of their two warm-up Tests against Georgia was cancelled, the Boks need game-time having been mothballed since the World Cup triumph in 2019.
The ‘A’ team will be drawn from the Springbok squad, so it could be a powerful, dangerous line-up. The Lions have been crying out for meaningful opposition to help them fine-tune for the Tests, and now their wish is set to be granted.
Sportsmail understands South Africa were keen for their ‘A’ team — or shadow Bok XV — to play a second game against the tourists on Saturday, in place of the scheduled Stormers v Lions fixture, but the visitors were not willing to agree to this late amendment.
So Nienaber will see Wednesday’s match as a valuable hit-out, which raises the stakes considerably. Gatland must decide how to handle the possibility of a near Test-level contest.
There have already been selection dilemmas due to Covid, but now the Kiwi must also consider whether or not to show his hand, ten days out from the series opener.
It is about deciding what the priority is; to maintain momentum by picking the strongest Lions team or maintaining confusion in the rival camp by rotating and experimenting again. Whatever he decides, Scotland fly-half Russell looks certain to miss the first Test, with Gatland fearing the Racing 92 star may even be forced home if he doesn’t recover in time.
‘If he makes good progress, we will assess him going forward. If he’s not, then there’s a possibility he may go home,’ said Gatland, who has called up England’s Marcus Smith as cover.
‘Finn’s had an injection. It’s not a strained Achilles, there’s a slight, wee tear in it. That’ll keep him out for the next couple of weeks,’ added the Lions boss. ‘We’ll see if
we can rehab him and he’s going to be in a boot for the next five days. When he comes out of that, he’ll have some more treatment over the next five days.’
Russell, who made his first start for the Lions in last weekend’s 56-14 win over the Sigma Lions, was being seen as the man who could produce something different to Dan Biggar and Owen Farrell but now Smith could take that mantle.
Gatland may still not be sure what his preferred team is given the sheer volume of contenders who have delivered compelling auditions. Ireland flanker Tadhg Beirne is in that category and, after his two-try contribution against the Sharks, he said: ‘We’ve had some serious wins. We’ve had three wins over 50 points which is impressive. There’s a bit of momentum but challenges are going to continue to get more difficult.’ Asked how players will feel about the fight for Test selection, he added: ‘Probably a lot of mixed emotions. You’re going to be nervous and anxious, but excited at the same time. All you can do is put your best foot forward. From that point on, it’s out of your control. Obviously I’m going to do the very best I can to give Gats a headache.’
Kolisi and the other isolating Boks will hope they are cleared to return to training next weekend.
Nienaber is staying in contact with fellow coaches by Zoom but, in his absence, South Africa’s director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, is overseeing training. He was the mastermind of their World Cup success, so even in these trying times, they are in good hands.