The Lions have landed in South Africa’s Covid danger zone and are set to stay there for 12 days — but it is increasingly likely all three Tests will be staged in Cape Town.
The tourists stepped off their 12-hour flight on Monday morning in Johannesburg, arriving at the epicentre of the country’s third wave and on an uncertain footing.
After South African president Cyril Ramaphosa bumped his country up to ‘level four’ — which further restricted travel, imposed a 9pm to 4am curfew, banned alcohol sales and any gatherings — the British and Irish tourists thought they might be able to escape Gauteng province after playing the Johannesburg-based Lions this Saturday.
The Lions will stay in Cape Town for their three Tests against South Africa with the country ramping up Covid restrictions
But, with yet another fresh schedule expected to be confirmed today, Sportsmail understands they will remain in the north of the country for three tour matches, with the Sharks match next Wednesday set for Ellis Park and Bulls game the following Saturday at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
However, it is believed the whole series will then shift to Cape Town for the final four weeks.
The Lions will therefore play not only South Africa ‘A’, the Stormers and the first Test there but the final two internationals against the Springboks as well, to close off the series in an area less riddled with the virus. Soweto’s FNB Stadium would therefore sacrifice its two Test matches.
The news comes after the South African government officially gave the green light for the series to go ahead despite fresh lockdown measures — providing the trip with an exemption from their draconian restrictions.
The team will stay in the north for three tour matches before heading to Cape Town
READ RELATED: Map reveals Covid hotspots – with 8 out of 10 worst-hit areas in North of England and Wales
The tourists arrived at the epicentre of the country’s third wave and on an uncertain footing
Within their guidance it suggested that ‘only the required number of players, match officials, support staff and medical crew required are allowed at the venue’ which would preclude non-playing Lions or Springbok squad players from travelling to games.
But the South Africans and Lions are confident that element will not apply to them on this tour. If it did, the situation would have been particularly unpalatable for the fabled ‘midweek’ Lions players — as they might then only feature in two matches before watching the last three-and-a-half weeks of the tour in their hotel.
As the Lions enjoyed a hotel pool recovery session on their arrival, within their secure bubble, the Boks returned to full training after a Covid scare.
On Sunday, three players — centre Sbu Nkosi, Saracens prop Vincent Koch and scrum-half Herschel Jantjies — all tested positive for Covid after PCR tests and all team activities were cancelled.
But Jantjies was cleared on Monday — he is thought to have returned a ‘false positive’ result — and joined the rest of the South African squad at training in the afternoon.
Today the Boks name a Test side for their first match since the 2019 World Cup final for the game against Georgia on Friday.
Covid still plagues South African rugby, with a match between the Pretorian Bulls against the Free State Cheetahs cancelled due to a positive test recorded among the Free State squad.
Source:
