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Lions 2021 tour will almost certainly break one match attendance record
By Online Editors
The British and Irish Lions will play the first Test of their 2021 three-match series in South Africa at the giant Soccer City stadium in front of what is likely to be a record-breaking crowd against the newly-crowned rugby world champions.
The match will be played on July 24 of that year, with the second Test to be staged at the Cape Town Stadium a week later.
The third game is scheduled to be back on the Highveld at the Springboks' traditional fortress of Ellis Park in Johannesburg on August 7.
The record attendance for a single Lions test is 84,188 in Australia in 2001, but should be surpassed at Soccer City, which was the venue for the final of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
A total of 94,713 came to watch the Boks play New Zealand at the venue just months after the end of the football showpiece.
The combined capacity of the venues for the three Tests is a shade under 205,000, with the expected sell-out attendances to therefore surpass the 192,972 spectators who watched the 2013 visit to Australia.
The Lions will open their tour with a series of warm-up matches, starting against Super Rugby side the Stormers in Cape Town on July 3, before a midweek clash with a South African Invitational team in Port Elizabeth.
They will move up the coast to meet the Sharks in Durban on July 10, before another midweek encounter with South Africa A in Nelspruit on the border of the famous Kruger National Park.
Their final fixture before the test series starts will be against the Bulls in Pretoria on July 17.
"I am absolutely thrilled with how this schedule looks," Lions coach Warren Gatland said. "Touring South Africa is always a huge challenge, not only from a rugby perspective, but also in terms of the venues and the conditions facing the players.
"We are very comfortable that three of the games, two of which are Test matches, will be played at altitude. Our schedule falls in a way to allow us to start at sea level before building up and acclimatising to the unique environment that playing at altitude presents."
The Lions have toured South Africa twice since the country was readmitted to international rugby in 1992, claiming a surprise 2-1 series victory five years later, before losing by the same margin in 2009.
On both previous times they visits the Boks have also been world champions.
- AAP
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Latest Comments
There is this thing going around against Siya Kolisi where they don't want him to be known as the best national captain ever, so they strike him down in ratings permanently whenever they can. They want McCaw and reckons he is the best captain ever. I disagree.
Just like they refuse to see SA as the best team and some have even said that should the Boks win a third WC in a row, they will still not be the best team ever. Even if they win every game between now and the WC. That is some serious hate coming SA's way.
Everyone forget how the McCaw AB's intimidated refs, was always on the wrong side, played on the ground etc. Things they would never have gotten away with today. They may have a better win ratio, but SA build depth, not caring about rank inbetween WC's until this year.
They weren't as bad inbetween as people claim, because non e of their losses was big ones and they almost never faced the strongest Bok team outside of the WC, allowing countries like France and Ireland to rise to the top unopposed.
Rassie is still at it, building more depth, getting more young stars into the fold. By the time he leaves (I hope never) he will leave a very strong Bok side for the next 15- 20 years. Not everyone will play for 20 years, but each year Rassie acknowledge the young stars and get them involved and ready for international rugby.
Not everyone will make it to the WC, but those 51/52 players will compete for those spots for the WC. They will deliver their best. The future of the Boks is in very safe hands. The only thing that bothers me is Rassie's health. If he can overcome it, rugby looks dark for the rest of the rugby world. He is already the greatest coach in WR history. By the time he retires, he will be the biggest legend any sport has ever seen
Go to commentsWas it? I just brought it up in some of my posts to rub it in that the AB last year nearly put 100 on a top 6N side lol
I agree to be honest. The biggest key to me that they might be jadded was none of them had mom performances, or even as good as their last three games.
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