SA campaign back on track as URC matches get green light

The lifting of South Africa from the UK travel red list on Tuesday has paved the way for SA teams to resume their United Rugby Championship campaign in the new year.

With the country placed on the red list after the Omicron strain was discovered by SA scientists, the two home rounds against European opposition were postponed, leading to a rescheduled single round of local fixtures two weeks ago.

With the SA teams then having another month break before their next games on 7 and 8 January, that single round of fixtures were in doubt due to strict quarantine measures.

However, with the country now removed from the red list it means those fixtures should be able to go ahead without any trouble, as long as none of the teams have any Covid outbreaks.

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The Lions are thus set to face the form team of this years URC, Leinster, in Dublin on 7 January.

The Lions are the highest ranked SA team in the competition at 10th on the log, but they face an extremely tough match against top-of-the-log Leinster in what should be a massive test of the visitors’ credentials.

The Sharks then face a tricky game against Benetton in Treviso, while the Stormers head into battle against Connacht in Galway, and second-from-bottom Bulls have a golden opportunity to emerge with a full house of points when they take on bottom-of-the-table Zebre in Parma, all on 8 January.

The competition then breaks again for three weeks, with the SA sides set to resume at the end of January with local derbies taking centre stage.