Stormers boss gives Lions tour organisers a thumbs up

The decision-makers in charge of the British and Irish Lions tour schedule did fantastic work to find a suitable compromise to ensure that the tour actually still takes place, believed Stormers coach John Dobson.

The revised schedule was confirmed on Friday which will see the first three games take place in Johannesburg and Pretoria, followed by three straight games in the Cape Town Stadium, including the opening Test on 24 July.

“There were talks of the tour happening in the United Kingdom which wouldn’t have given the Stormers and other local teams a chance to play against the Lions,” said Dobson, “and there were also talks recently that the provincial games would fall away, so the fact that it is happening is simply brilliant.”

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With the new schedule, with the games in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Nelspruit moved, Cape Town will host three games, with the other five in Gauteng.

“To have three games in Cape Town is awesome and the organisers have done remarkably well under the circumstances to keep the tour,” he said.

Dobson said with the opening game taking place against the local Lions at Ellis Park and the final two Tests at the FNB Stadium, the organisers have managed to meet everyone halfway.

“At least there is still some structure to the tour. If the Lions were to have been based in a single bubble in Sandton it would have been a different ball game.”

With the local Lions team added to the fixture list, all four of South Africa’s big outfits will face the tourists, with the other non-Test a match involving the SA A side – an outing that will give several young stars a chance against the best from Europe.

The Lions are expected to arrive in South Africa on the last weekend of June, with their first match taking place the following week.

The new schedule is:

• Saturday 3 July: Lions v The British & Irish Lions (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg) KO 6pm
• Wednesday 7 July: Sharks v The British & Irish Lions (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg) KO 8pm
• Saturday 10 July: Bulls v The British & Irish Lions (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria) KO 6pm
• Wednesday 14 July: South Africa ‘A’ v The British & Irish Lions (Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town) KO 8pm
• Saturday 17 July: Stormers v The British & Irish Lions (Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town) KO 6pm
• Saturday 24 July: Springboks v The British & Irish Lions (1^st Test, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town) KO 6pm
• Saturday 31 July: Springboks v The British & Irish Lions (2^nd Test, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg) KO 6pm
• Saturday 7 Aug: Springboks v The British & Irish Lions (3^rd Test, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg) KO 6pm