Surprise contender emerges as potential host for Lions series against South Africa
- by Grant Boone
- in Sports
- — Feb 3, 2021
There has been much speculation in recent weeks about how the British and Irish Lions series with Springboks will go ahead, due to the high number of coronavirus cases in the UK, Ireland and South Africa.
However, after the escalation of the pandemic threw the plans into disarray, organisers began to consider contingency plans such as relocating the tour to the United Kingdom, whilst the South African Rugby Union has been reluctant to accept the prospect of spectatorless games.
The British and Irish Lions in action against the Wallabies during their tour of Australia in 2013.
The Lions will begin their preparation for the series with a clash against Japan in Edinburgh on 26th June before they head to South Africa for tour games against South Africa "Invitational", Cell C Sharks, South Africa and Vodacom Bulls following which they will face the Springboks in a three-game Test series. The Lions indicated in early January whether they would decide in February to continue the tour. Sydney morning herald. "We will recover our costs", He assured.
Crowds could attend matches in Australia. Alternatives have been discussed, such as playing in empty stadiums or playing in the UK.
"What we learnt from the Tri Nations previous year and the tennis that's happening now is that Australia can successfully stage global tournaments in a COVID world", McLennan said.
"I'm sure we'd get a fantastic turnout", he finished.
But Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has confirmed reports on Saturday that they have offered to step in and host the series.
One or two of the Tests would be played in Perth, McLennan said, due to the strong expat community and favourable time zones, with another on the east coast.
Rugby Australia have not yet confirmed their mid-year test series against France but McLennan thought both tours could be accommodated with a little flexibility.
The tour being held is Australia would see the Lions and South Africa sharing the revenue with Australia simply covering their costs.
They traditionally attract tens of thousands of travelling Lions fans, who drown the stands of host venues in masses of red shirts.
"What we learnt from the Tri Nations previous year and the tennis that's happening now is that Australia can successfully stage global tournaments in a COVID world".
"No one else in the world have done it better than Australia", he said.
