South Africa cleared to continue preparations for Lions tour

The entire Springboks squad were placed in isolation on Sunday.

South Africa’s Herschel Jantjies has been cleared to train after initially testing positive for coronavirus on Sunday (PA Archive)

South Africa have been cleared to continue their preparations for the British and Irish Lions tour on Monday after three positive coronavirus tests were returned on Sunday.

The entire Springboks squad was placed in isolation as a precautionary measure after the positive tests, leading to the cancellation of Sunday’s training session, but were given the green light to resume training on Monday afternoon following feedback from the medical advisory group overseeing the series.

One of the players who tested positive, scrum-half Herschel Jantjies has subsequently been cleared to join the training group, SA Rugby said in a statement.

South Africa face two warm-up Tests against Georgia on the next two Fridays, before the three-match Lions series gets under way in Cape Town on July 24.

The Lions also suffered a miserable weekend with captain Alun Wyn Jones and flanker Justin Tipuric being ruled out of the series after suffering injuries in the warm-up fixture against Japan on Saturday.