Lions: Players sent home, results of latest Covid tests to be known Wednesday

The Lions will only know on Wednesday whether they will get the green-light to host Griquas in a Super Rugby Unlocked encounter at Ellis Park on Friday.

This, after the team and coaching personnel’s latest Covid test results are to be known – on Wednesday morning.

The entire squad was tested, like normal, on Tuesday morning. The team though have yet to train this week.

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Currently 11 members of the Lions Super Rugby Unlocked squad are affected by Covid-19, which resulted in last Saturday’s match against the Cheetahs, set for Ellis Park, to be called off at the last minute.

And while the word from Lions headquarters in downtown Joburg on Monday was that it was “business as usual”, the squad didn’t train like they normally do on a Monday.

Rather, the team met up on Zoom, to discuss the latest developments, and didn’t get close to a rugby field.

And, it is understood, the players returned to the safety of their homes early on Tuesday morning from Ellis Park, following their latest round of Covid tests. They would not train on Tuesday either.

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A decision on whether Friday’s game against Griquas goes ahead or not will likely be made only on Wednesday morning, once all the results are returned. Should there be no more positive cases, and those who were positive are now negative, the Lions could hit the training ground immediately.

Cash van Rooyen and his coaching team would, however, only have a few training sessions left before Friday’s match.

Also, Griquas would have to be informed timeously about the game, as they would normally travel to Joburg from Kimberly the day before the match, in this case, Thursday.

If Friday’s match does go ahead, it will kick off at 7pm.

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