The British & Irish Lions and SA Rugby have confirmed a revised Castle Lager Lions Series fixture list and venues.
All eight matches of the Tour will be played in Gauteng or Cape Town to minimise the risks of disruption that could be caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The schedule accommodates stable team bases and training venues and significantly reduces travel.
The Castle Lager Lions Series will now kick off in Gauteng (rather than Cape Town) with three matches against provincial opposition before moving to Cape Town for two more warm-up matches before the first Test at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday 24 July.
The Series then returns to Johannesburg for the second and third Tests at the FNB Stadium.
There is one team change in the revised schedule with the Emirates Lions replacing the SA Invitational team. The adjustment was made to reduce the risks associated with drawing a squad from around the country.
SA Rugby is organising all games in the schedule on the basis they will take place behind closed doors.
- Saturday 3 July: Emirates Lions v The British & Irish Lions (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg) KO 18h00 (SAT) / 17h00 (BST)
- Wednesday 7 July: Cell C Sharks v The British & Irish Lions (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg) KO 20h00 (SAT) / 19h00 (BST)
- Saturday 10 July: Vodacom Bulls v The British & Irish Lions (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria) KO 18h00 (SAT) / 17h00 (BST)
- Wednesday 14 July: South Africa ‘A’ v The British & Irish Lions (Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town) KO 20h00 (SAT) / 19h00 (BST)
- Saturday 17 July: DHL Stormers v The British & Irish Lions (Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town) KO 18h00 (SAT) / 17h00 (BST)
- Saturday 24 July: Springboks v The British & Irish Lions (1st Test, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town) KO 18h00 (SAT) / 17h00 (BST)
- Saturday 31 July: Springboks v The British & Irish Lions (2nd Test, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg) KO 18h00 (SAT) / 17h00 (BST)
- Saturday 7 Aug: Springboks v The British & Irish Lions (3rd Test, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg) KO 18h00 (SAT) / 17h00 (BST)
The British & Irish Lions Test match against Japan at BT Murrayfield Stadium on Saturday 26 June for the Vodafone Lions 1888 Cup will continue as scheduled. However, owing to the uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic, a decision on crowd size will be made nearer the time of the event and in line with the latest Scottish Government guidance. For more information, including ticketing enquiries, please visit: www.lionsrugby.com
“The Covid-19 pandemic has caused considerable disruption to the global sporting calendar, but after discussions with our partners at SA Rugby, we are very pleased to be able to give confirmation of the revised tour schedule,” said Lions managing director Ben Calveley.
“While things will undoubtedly look different to a typical Lions tour, together with SA Rugby we are determined to deliver an uninterrupted Series for the players who will take the field, as well as the many millions of people watching at home.
“We would like to thank all Lions supporters for their patience and understanding as we continue to navigate our way through the impact of the pandemic, and also extend our enormous gratitude to our commercial partners for their incredible ongoing support.”
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All ticket holders for the original schedule will receive a full refund. SA Rugby also confirmed that SA resident ticket holders would have first right to purchase tickets for the revised schedule if restrictions on attendance at sports events were lifted.
Supporters who have booked ticket-inclusive packages through Lions Rugby Travel and its appointed Official Sub-Agents have been contacted separately with the options available, as have those who had successfully purchased Test match tickets via the Lions ticket ballot.
If you live in the UK you must follow Covid 19 rules where you live: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. South Africa is currently categorised as ‘red’ for Covid 19 by the UK Government. The UK government states that you should not travel to red list countries or territories for leisure purposes.
For further information please visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-amber-and-green-list-rules-for-entering-england.
Subscribe to the latest information on South Africa by visiting the UK Foreign Office’s Travel Advice website www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/south-africa/email-signup
For the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs website visit www.dfa.ie/travel/travel-advice/a-z-list-of-countries/south-africa/
“We’re delighted to be able to finally confirm the revised schedule after months of scenario planning and shifting circumstances,” said SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux.
“It has been a challenging process with dozens of variables to consider but we believe we have arrived at a schedule that minimises the risks associated with the pandemic.
“We are hopeful that restrictions on attendance at sports events will be relaxed but, for the moment, we are planning for an event behind closed doors. If that requirement changes, then we’ll assess the options available and make the necessary decisions based on the restrictions in place.
“I would like to thank our supporters and commercial partners for their patience over these many months. This is not the Castle Lager Lions Series we imagined when we started our planning more than two and a half years ago but, in the circumstances, I think it is an exciting prospect.
“After all the uncertainty it’s a relief to be able to put a stake in the ground and confirm what the Series will look like – I’m sure most of us can’t now wait for kick off.”
Roux said that the priority throughout had been to ensure the Castle Lager Lions Series went ahead and he thanked the staffs of the unique joint venture (that was established to run the Tour) for the hard work and sleepless nights they had endured to arrive at a workable solution.
“The scenarios changed on a weekly basis with options on three different continents workshopped and interrogated over the past few months to reach this point,” said Roux.
“Throughout we have had a single-minded goal to ensure the Series went ahead. The British & Irish Lions only visit our shores once every 12 years and to deny our players and our supporters the opportunity of sharing in the experience of what is invariably an event that passes into folklore would have been a devastating blow. We’re now ready to deliver the Series.”
The eight-match Tour of South Africa will be shown live and exclusively on Sky Sports.
The British & Irish Lions have toured South Africa on 13 previous occasions, with the first Tour taking place in 1891. In that time, the Lions have won four Test series, lost eight with one drawn. Their overall record against the Springboks is played 46, won 17, lost 23 and drawn six.
