{"id":96660,"date":"2021-07-07T20:04:57","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T20:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=96660"},"modified":"2021-07-07T20:59:02","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T20:59:02","slug":"lions-tour-in-danger-of-imploding-after-outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=96660","title":{"rendered":"Lions tour in danger of imploding after outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"

The British and Irish Lions'<\/a> visit to South Africa was in danger of unravelling Wednesday as the tourists confirmed two COVID-19 cases among their party, on the same day the Springboks cancelled their second warm-up Test against Georgia because of virus outbreaks in both those squads.<\/p>\n

The developments underlined fears raised months ago that the tour would coincide with a winter surge in coronavirus infections in South Africa, which is Africa's worst-affected country. The Johannesburg region, where the Lions and Springboks are based, has been especially hard-hit by the new wave of cases.<\/p>\n

A Lions tour game this weekend against the Bulls in Pretoria had already been postponed because of yet another outbreak, this one in the Bulls team.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Lions' game on Wednesday night against the Sharks in Johannesburg went ahead after the kick-off was delayed for an hour to allow the tourists to get the results of more virus tests.<\/p>\n

Those checks identified a second positive test and a total of 12 close contacts, resulting in a raft of changes to the team. The Lions were stretched so thin that only one backline player, Finn Russell, was available on the bench.<\/p>\n

The Lions didn't identify the staff member or the player who tested positive.<\/p>\n

South Africa said it had cancelled its second Test against Georgia scheduled for Friday night, also in Johannesburg, after at least a dozen positive virus tests among Springboks players and staff since Monday. They included head coach Jacques Nienaber.<\/p>\n

Georgia also had six positive tests in its camp, confirming outbreaks in both teams after they played the first test last Friday in Pretoria.<\/p>\n

Another Lions game next Wednesday, against South Africa A in Cape Town, is also in doubt.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The fixture will depend on the extent of the outbreaks in the Lions and Springboks squads. Players for the South Africa A team will be taken from the larger Springboks squad, which is now in isolation in its team hotel.<\/p>\n

Anyone who has tested positive or deemed to be a close contact of someone who has tested positive must isolate, and is not allowed to travel for at least 10 days, according to South African government guidelines.<\/p>\n

That means South Africa and the Lions may have to leave players and coaching staff behind in isolation in Johannesburg when the tour moves to Cape Town.<\/p>\n

"The enlarged Springbok squad's travel plans are now being reviewed to comply with COVID-19 protocols," SA Rugby said.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The British and Irish Lions' visit to South Africa was in danger of unravelling Wednesday as the tourists confirmed two COVID-19 cases among their party, […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96660"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96660"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96662,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96660\/revisions\/96662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}