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British and Irish Lions tour match postponed
By Liam Heagney
The axe has fallen on the third match of the Lions tour in South Africa after officials decided on Tuesday evening to officially postpone next Saturday's game versus the Bulls in Pretoria following a virus outbreak in the Bulls camp. Friday's Springboks game versus Georgia has also been further jeopardised by an outbreak amongst the Eastern European team.
It was Tuesday morning when a report from South Africa revealed the outbreak amongst some players in Jake White's Bulls squad and the Lions were unsure during their early afternoon media briefing what the eventual decision on the match - their fourth of 2021 and their third in the southern hemisphere - would be.
That decision eventually arrived just before 7pm local time, a statement from the Lions reading: "The Lions match against the Vodacom Bulls on Saturday has been postponed with a view to rescheduling or to accommodate an alternative opponent, while the Springboks’ second Test against Georgia on Friday is also being reviewed.
"Four Bulls players and one member of management returned positive tests which, in combination with their close contacts, made it impossible for them to field a team according to series safety protocols. Series regulations make provision for additional midweek matches to be added in an agreement between the organisations.
"Meanwhile, four positive results among the Georgian team and four additional positive tests among Springbok players (Marvin Orie, Frans Steyn, Handre Pollard and Frans Malherbe) plus six among management, including head coach Jacques Nienaber, and one masseuse, have further complicated planning. The latest medical data from the Springbok and Georgian teams will be assessed by the medical advisory group (MAG) on Wednesday morning."
SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux said: “These positive results are a setback and have underlined the danger of transmissibility of the delta variant. The Springboks’ second Test against Georgia is now in serious doubt, but we will wait for the MAG to consider the data and we will make the final decision tomorrow [Wednesday]. The priority is to maintain the integrity of the Test series and we will continue to focus on that.”
A further update will be issued on potential alternative opponents for the Lions and on the Springboks’ second Test against Georgia as soon as the positions are finalised. Meanwhile, the Lions' Wednesday evening game versus the Sharks in Johannesburg will take place as scheduled.
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Latest Comments
There is a major story unfolding around Gleeson's bar in Booterstown, South Dublin City last night. Beaudy Barrett, DMac and Cody Taylor were there. DMac was supposed to be on the Guinness 0.0 but lets just say it didn't turn out that way.
Hours later, Dmac out cold, head on the table with a long stallagtite of flem and spittle rising and falling with his breathing. There is a video apparently.
The barman barred a staggering Taylor from any more Guinness but Taylor kept pushing past him, pulled a seat up to the Guinness tap and personally pulled himself pints, claiming it was 'celebrity pint pulls mate'.
One of these celebrity pint pulls made a local paper but it's only a matter of time before the real context comes out. Dmac is out of the team for Friday due to breaking 'internal standards', Sititi starting at 10.
Go to commentsNow that made me laugh bull!
I tell you what though, the head knock from Kriel on Hugh jones in the wc that didn’t result in any card was a real mystery with the way things are now.
Also suspect the Boks will be pretty well motivated by glasgows antics in stellenbosch last week and loftus in June…
Should be a cracker hopefully!
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