British & Irish Lions tour thrown into chaos as three Boks test positive for Covid-19

Scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies during the Castle Lager Springbok Showdown match between Springbok Green and Springbok Gold at DHL Newlands Stadium on 3 October 2020 in Cape Town. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images)

By Craig Ray

27 Jun 2021

Talks are under way for most of the eight-match British & Irish Lions tour to be relocated to the Western Cape amid a Covid-19 surge in Gauteng.

The Lions were scheduled to leave Edinburgh at 7pm (8pm South African time) on Sunday night at precisely the time South African president Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation. The plane took off 80 minutes later after a delay that might have been because the tourists were waiting for the details of the speech.

The British & Irish Lions start their 12-yearly tour to South Africa with a game against the Lions from Joburg. The tourists will be landing in a province (Gauteng) gripped by the worst spike of the entire pandemic and news that the Springboks have a Covid outbreak in their squad.

Five of the eight matches, including two of the three Tests, were to be played in Gauteng at Ellis Park, Loftus Versfeld and the FNB Stadium. But as cases continue to rise with alarming speed in Gauteng, SA Rugby (Saru) and the Lions organisation are considering alternatives.

President Ramaphosa announced the country would return to Adjusted Level 4 lockdown. Previously under Level 4, no professional contact sport was allowed, but according to sources at Saru, the adjusted level allows for the Currie Cup, and most crucially, the Lions tour to continue.

But whether the Lions tour carries on as scheduled is a matter of debate. Players will no doubt be feeling increasingly uneasy as they fly into the epicentre of a vicious third wave. The Lions organisation and Saru have contingency plans in place and the option of moving most games to the Western Cape is on the table.

Positive cases

Springbok Sbu Nkosi is tackled by Conor Trainor during the Rugby World Cup 2019 Group B game between South Africa and Canada at Kobe Misaki Stadium in Kobe, Japan. (Photo: Ashley Western / MB Media / Getty Images)

The issue was forced to a head late on Saturday when three Springbok players returned positive Covid-19 test results just as the entire Springbok squad was about to go into its Gauteng biosecure lockdown.

There was always a sense of inevitability that some Springbok and touring British & Irish Lions players would test positive for Covid-19 at some stage during the next six weeks. But no one expected three cases before the tour had even begun.

Springbok Vincent Koch of Saracens on a run during the Greene King IPA Championship match between Saracens and Bedford Blues at the StoneX Stadium on 11 April 2021 in Barnet, England. (Photo: David Rogers / Getty Images)

On Saturday night, the Springbok management received the news they most feared. Wing Sbu Nkosi, prop Vincent Koch and scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies returned positive results, forcing the entire squad into isolation. Training on Sunday was cancelled, and it will require another round of testing before they will be cleared to resume their normal schedule.

In one sense this outcome proves that the biosecure environment, which the Boks were about to enter, and the associated screening, were doing the job. The three players, who were asymptomatic, were immediately isolated from the remainder of the squad. Contact tracing started and the spread of infection was hopefully cut off.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has successfully hosted the Sri Lankan men and Indian women’s team in biosecure environments. It also hosted England last December — a tour that was suspended when England abandoned it after a hotel worker tested positive. It was an overreaction, but underlined how precarious and volatile these environments can be.

“We use the term bio-bubble interchangeably with the term bio-safe environment, and perhaps we need to relook at the language,” CSA head of medical Dr Shuaib Manjra told Daily Maverick at the time of the England incident.

“The phrase bio-safe gives the impression that it’s a completely vacuum-sealed environment that’s impervious to any infectious diseases and Covid-19 particularly.

“What ‘bio-safe’ means in reality, is three-fold. The first is that we will create an environment that is conducive to safe living and not conducive to the transmission or contraction of the virus.

“Secondly, we control the behaviours of the people within that environment to reduce the likelihood of contraction and should they contract Covid-19, that there is no further transmission. It’s early detection and thirdly we test regularly.

“Logically, if the bio-bubble was 100% secure, there would be no need to keep testing people. Yet, we conducted close to 600 tests on squad members and hotel staff while England was here. Each person was tested approximately six times in three weeks.”

There are other layers of complexity and associated fallout with the situation in the Bok camp.

Koch had travelled from Britain, where he plays for Saracens, a day before. He played alongside teammates Maro Itoje, Jamie George and Mako Vunipola who flew to South Africa with the Lions on Sunday.

Koch’s Saracens colleagues in the Lions squad might have to go into a 10-day isolation period as well.

Also, Nkosi and Jantjies had been in camp with the Boks for almost three weeks at their Bloemfontein base. Where and how they contracted Covid-19 remains unclear, but it appears to have been in the move to Joburg.

Saru director of rugby Rassie Erasmus tried to play down the significance of the positive Covid tests.

“I don’t think it’s a big cause for concern, but we want to keep everybody as safe as possible,” Erasmus said. “We have followed strict protocols and everyone is isolated at the moment. It is disruptive, but it has happened to other rugby teams over the last months and we have enough players in our camp to go ahead with our matches.”

Georgia Test uncertainty

The Springboks are due to play their first Test, against Georgia at Loftus on 2 July, since the World Cup final in November 2019. That match could be in jeopardy too.

On Friday’s Test against Georgia, Erasmus was bullish it would go ahead despite the present issues, although decisions over when the Boks might practice again would be made only on Monday.

“The decision will be made externally and the Georgians come in today (Sunday), but I don’t think the game will be impacted by what has happened,” said Erasmus.

“It is why we have 45 guys in camp — so that we will never be in a situation where we don’t have enough players to play a match. To play against Georgia we need to have 23 players who test negative for Covid. If it came to it, we would go outside the current Bok group if we had to, but that shouldn’t be necessary.

“We need to see this in perspective. This is the first time myself and Jacques (Bok coach Jacques Nienaber) are experiencing something like this, but our franchise teams and many of the international teams have experienced it.

“For instance, England assistant coach Matt Proudfoot tested positive and he and England head coach Eddie Jones had to isolate last year, and Fiji also had a problem. It is just a reality of the times we are living in.”

New captain for Lions

The Lions also had the disruption of calling up two players on the morning of their departure after tour captain Alun Wyn Jones and flank Justin Tipuric were ruled out. Both suffered shoulder injuries in the Lions 28-10 win over Japan at Murrayfield in Edinburgh.

Ireland scrumhalf Conor Murray, on his third tour with the famous team, was named as the new tour skipper. Wales lock Adam Beard and Wales flank Josh Navidi were called up as replacements for the injured pair.

“I still don’t have my head around it but it’s something that’s an unbelievable honour, it’s something I never thought would be possible,” Murray said.

“We’re very disappointed to lose Alun Wyn. He’s been brilliant for the first two weeks. I’ve known him from the past two tours and he’s been incredible. It’s a huge loss.

“It was a little bit of a surprise (to be asked) to be honest. I didn’t even think about it. I knew that Al was out and then you just, you look around the squad and there’s so many contenders. It’s a huge honour, but there’s such a good group of leaders in this squad that it makes it less daunting, definitely. I think there’s lads that you can lean on.

“What kind of puts me at ease is that we’ve such a good leadership group that it means I can continue being myself. There’ll be a little bit more responsibility, but I don’t think it should change anything around the camp. I think that’s one of the most important things — that I remain myself, and I assume that’s why Warren asked me to do it.” DM

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