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The Springboks' second match versus Georgia has been cancelled
By Liam Heagney
SA Rugby have confirmed that this Friday's scheduled second Springboks Test against Georgia has been cancelled, the call-off becoming the latest blow to affect the British and Irish Lions tour after Warren Gatland's squad had their game next Saturday versus the Bulls postponed.
It was revealed on Tuesday that four Bulls players and one member of management returned positive tests for Covid, which resulted in their match with the Lions in Pretoria getting shelved.
It also emerged that four positive results were found among the Georgia team along with four additional positive tests amongst the Springboks players (Marvin Orie, Frans Steyn, Handre Pollard and Frans Malherbe) plus six among management, including head coach Jacques Nienaber, and one masseuse.
The outcome has been for the Springboks versus Georgia second Test in Johannesburg to be cancelled because of the infections in both camps. An SA Rugby statement read: "It was confirmed that the risk of further infection made it impossible to continue with the match."
SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux added: “In the context of the loss of life and economic damage that Covid and this third wave are wreaking, the cancellation of a rugby match is pretty trivial. But it is still a major disappointment for the many stakeholders who have invested so much time, energy and resources into making these matches happen.
"I especially feel for the fans and players, and for our visitors from Georgia who travelled here at relatively short notice to take on the series, which has now been cut short. We’ve not been able to interact with them because of the bio-secure environments, but I’d like to thank them publicly for their support. We continue to plan for the Springboks’ re-emergence from isolation and the completion of the Test series but in the short-term, we wish a speedy recovery for those who have been infected.”
The Springboks' travel plans are now being reviewed to comply with Covid-19 protocols and a South Africa A team is scheduled to play the Lions in Cape Town on July 14.
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Latest Comments
This is true.
But perhaps because rugby is Australia’s fourth (or worse) most popular sport, there is just no coaching talent good enough.
It’s interesting that no players from the Aussies golden era (say between 1987 - 2000) have emerged as international quality coaches. Or coaches at all.
Again, Australians are the problem methinks. Not as interested in the game. Not as interested to support the game. Not as interested to get into the game.
And like any other industry in the world - when you don’t have the capabilities or the skills, you import them.
Not difficult to understand really.
Go to commentsi think Argentina v France could be a good game too, depending on which Argentina turns up. The most difficult to call is Scotland Australia.
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