The collective desire to keep the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour on the road is beginning to tip over into desperation. The latest plan B – in truth, it is effectively Plan Z – is for Warren Gatland’s team to face the Sharks on Saturday for the second time in four days, but an additional complication has arisen following confirmation some members of the tour party in coronavirus-ravaged South Africa have chosen not to be vaccinated.
Ben Calveley, the Lions managing director, is not divulging how many of the Lions party, players or otherwise, have declined to have the vaccine, saying only that “the vast majority” have been jabbed. He also insists it is up to individuals to choose whether to receive a jab to combat the effects of Covid-19, which has contributed to the deaths of over 1,500 South Africans within the past four days alone.
With one positive case of Covid-19 already detected among the Lions management – the player announced as positive on Tuesday has subsequently tested negative – it adds another layer of uncertainty to an unenviable situation for the Lions players forced to isolate in their Johannesburg hotel.
“I think everyone has a right to make their own decision on whether or not they want to be vaccinated,” said Calveley. “I think it’s wrong for anyone to think that vaccination is some sort of universal panacea. I’m afraid it’s not. So we have an approach which is multi-layered where, as well as having a majority of the party being vaccinated, we are also exhibiting all of the right behaviours.
“We have a number of strategies in place to mitigate the risk in any environment. We’re getting tested three times a week, if not more, we’re socially distancing, we’re well ventilated, we’re observing hand hygiene, we’re wearing masks, we’re not integrating with the public, and we’re travelling very infrequently.”
Calveley also sought to deflect suggestions that Covid-19 might have infiltrated the Lions camp via hotel workers with whom they may have been in contact on arrival. “The hotel staff don’t go home every evening,” he stressed. “They live on-site here as well and actually there are very few hotel staff. So actually our bubble is about as secure as it can be. We think we’ve got a very robust set of protocols in place that will keep us as safe as they possibly can.”
Despite all their precautions, however, the Lions must now await the results of a further round of testing before their rematch with the Sharks can receive the final go-ahead. Even if there are no further cases – which would leave the Lions without only the two players originally identified as close contacts of the management member who tested positive – there are obvious rugby-related drawbacks to asking a local side beaten 54-7 on Wednesday to back up again three days later.
It is the only way, however, that the Lions could whistle up opposition once it became clear that a Covid outbreak at the Bulls would stop them from hosting the Lions in Pretoria. SA Rugby’s chief executive, Jurie Roux, has confirmed it was the only practical option left. “No other team in the country could meet those conditions right now without going into a five-day lockdown,” said Roux. “It is not an ideal situation but Covid-19 has made sure that we do not live in an ideal world.”
True enough, but with 65,000 fans attending England’s semi-final against Denmark, the decision to press on with a Lions Test series against the Springboks in front of empty stadiums in South Africa is starting to look an ill-fated one.
Calveley, though, said there are no plans to try and shift the Test series back to the UK. “It’s certainly not as simple as just hopping on a flight and playing the series out on British soil. We made the decision back in March that we would make this tour work in South Africa, which I believe to be the right decision,” he said.
“I’m definitely not going to sit here and say that this is easy but we are absolutely determined to make it work. We know that sport, in difficult times, can provide a much-needed distraction from the challenges people face and we hope we are providing something positive for people to enjoy.”