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Is the 2021 Lions Tour Doomed?

TRF_heineken said:
No they wouldn't. I agree that would take a lot of strain on the family.

Then again, SA Super Rugby teams used to travel for 2 months or so to Australasia in the past, so it is manageable, and then again tour with the Springboks later in the year during the RC.

But yeah, the Bubbles, I hear are a bit tougher, as the restricted movement takes a bigger toll on the guys, and the limited movement causes more negativity.

But I wonder if that would be the case if there could be some kind of deal with a place like Sun City? The Resort can't be fully booked at the moment as it is without it's regular international tourists not coming to SA.

It has 4 hotels, as well as free standing units like flats. Why not offer this to the touring squad? Then the whole squad will be able to move a bit more freely, and Sun City has it's own game reserve with lots of animals to view. Plus, it's not that far from Johannesburg....
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True but this isn't SA rugby. This is Ireland and it more intense seasons with more camps. The issue is the lockdown. Mental health etc need to be monitored too.
 
I've heard from my family in South Africa that it is not as bad as in the UK. So hopefully there will be crowds.
 
We have to consider that South Africa are still in their summer period, and we know what it was like in Britain last summer... I won't be holding my breath.
 
TommiG88 said:
We have to consider that South Africa are still in their summer period, and we know what it was like in Britain last summer... I won't be holding my breath.
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Although, our winters aren't as cold as yours...

Where I stay, in Winter, it hardly ever drops below 10 degrees celsius.
 
TRF_heineken said:
Although, our winters aren't as cold as yours...

Where I stay, in Winter, it hardly ever drops below 10 degrees celsius.
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From what I hear it is going to be a tight run ship on Lions requests. No fans for any warm ups. They will probably get a resort like you mentioned earlier with pools etc and unlike Lions tours of past (unsure how this works considering size of SA) they are looking at keeping to 1 base.
 
munstermuffin said:
From what I hear it is going to be a tight run ship on Lions requests. No fans for any warm ups. They will probably get a resort like you mentioned earlier with pools etc and unlike Lions tours of past (unsure how this works considering size of SA) they are looking at keeping to 1 base.
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This tour is basically the same as the 2009 one in that 2 tests are played in Gauteng - 2009 it was 1 in Pretoria and 1 in Johannesburg, and this time it's 2 in Johannesburg. The only difference is in 2009 the other test was in Durban, and this time it's in Cape Town.

AFAIK they had just one base, and only flew down to Durban for the test, while remaining as much as possible in the highveld and getting used to the altitude. They can fly to anywhere in the country in less than 2 and a half hours.

I think Durban to Cape Town is the longest flight domestically from the big airports and that's about a 2h15min flight.
 
TRF_heineken said:
This tour is basically the same as the 2009 one in that 2 tests are played in Gauteng - 2009 it was 1 in Pretoria and 1 in Johannesburg, and this time it's 2 in Johannesburg. The only difference is in 2009 the other test was in Durban, and this time it's in Cape Town.

AFAIK they had just one base, and only flew down to Durban for the test, while remaining as much as possible in the highveld and getting used to the altitude. They can fly to anywhere in the country in less than 2 and a half hours.

I think Durban to Cape Town is the longest flight domestically from the big airports and that's about a 2h15min flight.
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May adapt the Pro14 approach so where teams are nearly travelling to and from on same day as game.
 
munstermuffin said:
May adapt the Pro14 approach so where teams are nearly travelling to and from on same day as game.
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I see they play their first 3 games at the coast, then Mbombela which is in the lowveld, and then the last game before the tests is against the Bulls in Pretoria. So their only game at altitude will be against the Bulls before the tests start...

All of the locations have an airport, so travelling would be easy enough.
 
TRF_heineken said:
I see they play their first 3 games at the coast, then Mbombela which is in the lowveld, and then the last game before the tests is against the Bulls in Pretoria. So their only game at altitude will be against the Bulls before the tests start...

All of the locations have an airport, so travelling would be easy enough.
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Either that or possible rescheduling of games in SA if there is no fans. Not sure on the travel. I only been to SA with Munster for Pro14 etc so not sure on travel but I suppose it all depends on fans. If there is no fans then there is scope to alter it slightly.
If there is fans then I suppose it can be kept a bit more looser.

Still discussions here on size of squad/travelling party etc.
 
The_Blindside said:
www.bbc.co.uk

British and Irish Lions 2021: Proposals for return of fans to be taken to South African government

Proposals for the return of fans are being taken to the country's government before this summer's British and Irish Lions tour.
www.bbc.co.uk
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Our COVID numbers are looking a lot more stable and the total deaths are also very low. Our President announced on Monday a bit stricter lockdown protocol for the Easter weekend, as that is the traditional weekend where there is a lot of religious gatherings, and a lot of people travelling to other regions in the country. So it's going to be interesting to see how this will affect our COVID recovery plan, and if an event will be a superspreader event.

Glad to see SA Rugby following Cricket SA's approach in getting the people in the stands. We can go to restaurants and bars and sit next to complete strangers, but not in a well ventilated stadium?
 
Actually a safari would be a could way to isolate them as a group
 
Been offered a refund and have taken it. Can't leave it to the last minute to organise a trip sadly.
 
The_Blindside said:
Better to get your money back then go and not enjoy it.
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If they offered a refund then probably they are already sure it will be behind closed doors or without foreigners..
I think more of the first option (behind closed doors) or with a very limited number of people (locals)
 
I'm hopeful we will have large/full crowds, 100% local fans.

Will be a proper hostile atmosphere
 
mdaclarke said:
I'm hopeful we will have large/full crowds, 100% local fans.

Will be a proper hostile atmosphere
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I'm hoping for that too! Maybe I'll be able to get some tickets then...

But it will be weird. 2009's tour was an awesome experience, and the stadiums were packed with red jersey'd fans. That second test me and my brother were the only ones in the upper east stand with Green Jerseys, and we were surrounded by Lions fans...
 
TRF_heineken said:
I'm hoping for that too! Maybe I'll be able to get some tickets then...

But it will be weird. 2009's tour was an awesome experience, and the stadiums were packed with red jersey'd fans. That second test me and my brother were the only ones in the upper east stand with Green Jerseys, and we were surrounded by Lions fans...
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Wouldnt that be a dream... can't wait one day to go on one of these tours, it just seems like the most surreal experience.
Did you end up in the pubs with the lions tourists? And is there a real change in atmosphere from what you get (as home fans) vs say is NZ come to town?
 
Jakedood said:
Wouldnt that be a dream... can't wait one day to go on one of these tours, it just seems like the most surreal experience.
Did you end up in the pubs with the lions tourists? And is there a real change in atmosphere from what you get (as home fans) vs say is NZ come to town?
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The guys that was sitting behind us asked us where they can go to meet the local females. And at that time my brother was still in Uni, so he called his girl-friends to find out where they were hanging out, which happened to be the Hatfield Square (which doesn't exist anymore).

After the game they came with us to the square, but insisted in them paying for our drinks, (because it's soooo cheap here).

We had a lot of fun with those guys that night. Most of them were from Scotland.



On another note, SARU has announced that they will be presenting the government with their plans to have fans in the stands this week. And depending on the outcome of that meeting, a decision will be made on whether or not the tour will take place behind closed doors.
 

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