Mallett calls for tour to be delayed until 2022
FORMER South Africa head coach Nick Mallett has called for the international calendar to be ripped up in order to facilitate a full British & Irish Lions tour in 2022.
Echoing views from Lions legend Willie John McBride, Mallett believes staging a half-cocked tour behind closed doors this year would wreck the Lions brand and offer little to an South African economy struggling badly in the wake of the pandemic.
Mallett passionately opposes suggestions the series could be played in the British Isles or even in Australia, although the prospect of the latter has receded.
Instead, Mallett insists World Rugby must make a stand by ordering home unions to rearrange their touring schedules so that the Lions can visit South Africa next year, thus giving up to 40,000 travelling supporters the best chance of upholding Lions traditions.
Cape Town-based Mallett told “I’d push really hard for the Lions tour to take place in 2022 because it’s that important and needs to be protected.
“South Africa is desperate – everyone is struggling financially and because we didn’t play in the Rugby Championship, we sacrificed quite a bit of television money there.
“The South African Rugby Union is desperate to have the Lions tour – but it must be here, with spectators, we can’t just have it staged simply as a televised event.
“We need to have 40,000 Lions supporters travelling around our country, eating in our restaurants, drinking in our bars and doing everything you’d want to do as a tourist in South Africa – going to our beaches, game reserves and everything else that goes with it.
“It’s so important to South Africans so I would hate the option of playing behind closed doors – and playing in the UK or Australia would be equally poor options.”
Mallett added: “I don’t understand why they couldn’t bring forward the 2022 tours to this year and push the 2021 schedule back a year. If they did that, international countries would still get their tours and the Lions could stay intact – exactly as it should.
“There’s the real carrot of a full British & Irish Lions tour, which is so important for the Lions concept as well as the South African economy. We would absolutely love to have the Lions and their fans here because it’s part and parcel of what makes rugby great.”
While Mallett’s suggestion would prove controversial for nations like England and Ireland, who have respective tours of Australia and New Zealand pencilled in for next year, he argues that considerations for the Lions must override self-interest elsewhere.
Mallett said: “It’s nonsense to suggest changes to the schedule couldn’t be made at short notice. You can arrange a game in ten days if you have the will to do it and countries like Australia and New Zealand are able to stage games with crowds now.
“If you set your mind to it and see the bigger picture, it really isn’t that difficult. Instead of seeing players going away with the Lions this summer, Eddie Jones could take an England squad of 35 to Australia this July and get as much benefit from that.
“It just requires good will and efficiency because the Lions are special and having massive empty stadiums without the banter and camaraderie that surrounds these occasions would be desperately sad. It just needs all participants to act quickly.”