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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
The New Zealand performance in the return fixture in 2016 was filthy. A lot of Irish supporters were pretty shocked by it, viewed it as de facto cheating just to avoid another defeat.
Also shocked by the abuse to Ireland, captain, vice-captain and spectators after the full time whistle in Paris defeat, last match.
Sledging is sledging, but that happens during the game and targetting spectators should be completely out of bounds.
The Irish public used to enjoy these matches, even in defeat. Now they are necessary but unpleasant, because NZ apparently cannot accept or respect successful challengers.
Go to commentsThanks for the analysis Nick, thought provoking as usual. Couple of queries though, in the pic where you've circled Williams bind , I'm pretty sure it shows Stuart's knee on the ground, surely that's a NZ penalty? Also having had the chance to watch it again the All Black scrum seeems to improve after halftime, but before either England or the All Blacks replace their props. Not sure if that was the result of Tuipolutu coming on or some halftime tips. Either way this is only Williams second international season, so he'll be better for the experience.
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