Rugby: Covid chaos for Lions tour with positive tests and postponed game

The British and Irish Lions have been forced to postpone this weekend's tour game against the Bulls after four opponents tested positive for Covid-19.

It comes as the Springboks squad has been hit with a raft of positive tests less than three weeks out from the first test in Cape Town 11 members in the Springboks camp have tested positive for the virus including coach Jacques Nienaber.

Four players Marvin Orie, Frans Steyn, Handre Pollard and Frans Malherbe are among the 11 with the rest in management.

Their next match against Georgia this weekend is now in serious doubt. The Georgia camp have recorded four cases.

"These positive results are a setback and have underlined the danger of transmissibility of the delta variant," said Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby.

"The Springboks' second Test against Georgia is now in serious doubt, but we will wait for the MAG (Medical Advisory Group) to consider the data and we will make the final decision tomorrow.

"The priority is to maintain the integrity of the Test series and we will continue to focus on that."

The Springboks yesterday cancelled a training session after lock Lood de Jager returned the positive test and the entire squad of nearly 50 players was put into isolation. It's the second time in just over a week that the Springboks have had positive tests in their squad.

Prop Vincent Koch, halfback Herchel Jantjies and wing Sbu Nkosi all tested positive on June 26 and the Springboks canceled a training session on June 27.

De Jager, Koch and Nkosi didn't feature in the first test against Georgia in Pretoria. De Jager and Koch had recently traveled to South Africa from Britain, where they play club rugby.

BREAKING…

Our match with the @BlueBullsRugby on Saturday 10th July has been postponed.

Read more below 👇#LionsRugby #CastleLionsSeries #LionsSA2021

— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 6, 2021

The British and Irish Lions opened their South African tour with a 56-14 win over the South Africa Lions at an empty Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg. A stark contrast to previous tours which have attracted huge amounts of travelling fans to support the side for every game.

They will still play the Sharks at Ellis Park tomorrow morning NZT.