British and Irish Lions tour match postponed due to coronavirus cases

Saturday’s scheduled opponents the Bulls have an outbreak of the virus while 10 cases in the Springboks camp put their game with Georgia in doubt.

The British and Irish Lions in training (PA Wire)

The British and Irish Lions have lost a first match to coronavirus after Saturday’s clash with the Bulls was postponed because of an outbreak in the South African province’s team.

And in a further setback that calls into question the ongoing viability of the tour, an additional 10 positive Tests by players and management in the Springbok camp have thrown their Test against Georgia on Friday into grave doubt.

Complicating the hopes of the second of South Africa’s warm-up games taking place at Emirates Airline Park is that Georgia have also also been affected, producing four confirmed cases of Covid However, the game has not been cancelled yet.

Only the Lions have managed to escape the virus as the Gauteng region that encompasses Johannesburg and Pretoria finds itself in the grip of an escalating third wave of the pandemic.

But the tourists’ schedule now faces revision with two options under consideration – fixing a new date for the Bulls game or finding alternative opposition to fill the gap created on Saturday.