SOUTH African rugby fans seem to be a bit unsure whether to get excited or not about the upcoming tour by the British and Irish Lions.
It is good news, I think, that SA Rugby announced recently that the tour, which is supposed to kick off in July, will go ahead.
The good thing about this is that the clashes between the Springboks and the Lions won’t be taking place in some other country.
Huge challenges though await the South African authorities to make sure the tour is a success, within the COVID-19 regulations.
Straight away, the question can be asked if it is worth all the trouble to go ahead with a tour, when there is a very strong possibility that the matches will be played behind closed doors.
A full Lions tour would be an enormous boost for the South African economy, but a downscaled tour, behind closed doors, is a different kettle of fish.
Looking solely from the perspective of the rugby fan, some sort of tour will be good enough. Sure, we want to see some fans at the ground, but most would settle for watching the live action on the television, instead of going through some archive material.
The Lions are scheduled to play in Cape Town, Gqeberha, Durban, Mbombela, Pretoria and Johannesburg.
The schedule can still change and some of those cities might not get a glimpse of the Lions.
Bay residents have been looking forward to July 7, when the Lions will hopefully play against an invitation side in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Many tickets have already been sold for this clash but in a shortened tour, and the teams going into a bio-bubble, a city like Gqeberha could lose out.
It is a possibility that the Lions will only play in the Gauteng area, but let’s wait and see what the rugby officials come up with. A few creative solutions will be needed to make sure the tour is a success.
The most important issue for the real rugby fan is whether the Boks will be ready to face, and beat, the Lions.
Where the officials must come up with their own plans, Bok coach, Rassie Erasmus, also has to produce a bit of magic to get his charges ready.
The Springboks were last seen in action in the World Cup final, back in November 2019. They are certainly not ready to take on the Lions with any confidence, but luckily there is the Rassie factor.
In the World Cup triumph, we all saw what Rassie could do and one has to believe he can come up with yet another genius plan or two.
The Boks will need a bit of Rassie’s magic if they want to beat the visitors, because we haven’t seen much recently on our fields to make us stock up for any victory celebrations.
The Rainbow Cup matches, starting on April 24, will be of utmost importance in getting the players ready to take on the Lions.
The Rainbow Cup will start with some South African derbies.
That should provide the Boks coaching staff the opportunity of preparing the players they will need to defeat the Lions.
A Lions’ tour is such a huge tradition, and what more can a Boks’ fan ask for than for your World Champs take on the Lions in South Africa.
Let’s hope the full tour goes ahead without hiccups, because it should be an epic test series.
