By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The British and Irish Lions’ tour of South Africa suffered a setback before it had started following the confirmation on Sunday by SA Rugby that three Springbok players had returned positive Covid tests.
The three players who were named by the Springboks on Sunday afternoon as being positive are Vincent Koch, Sbu Nkosi and Herschel Jantjies.
The team assembled on Saturday in preparation for the first Test against Georgia.
Already the Lions and SA Rugby have changed the tour schedule with matches to now be played in only three centres – Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria. No fans will be allowed in the stadiums or at any training sessions.
The original schedule included matches in Mbombela, Port Elizabeth and Durban.
The Lions and Springboks will now stay in bio-secure bubbles in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
The Springboks on Sunday cancelled their planned training session in Johannesburg as a precautionary measure when scheduled testing protocols returned three positive Covid-19 test results when the team assembled on Saturday.
SA Rugby said in a statement the players tested positive “on arrival at the team base”, suggesting the players came into the squad in recent days and were not part of the group that has been training in Bloemfontein from the outset.
The entire springbok squad is now in isolation as a precaution until “specialist medical advice is sought from the Lions Series Medical Advisory Group (MAG).”
A decision on further team activities will be made shortly.
The Tests between the Boks and Lions are scheduled for July 24 and 31 and August 7.