The British and Irish Lions' tour of South Africa is set to go ahead as planned later this year after proposals to stage matches elsewhere were rejected.
Due to continued complications surrounding the coronavirus crisis, questions were raised over whether the Lions would be able to travel to South Africa for the eight-match trip.
But rather than host matches in the UK and Ireland, or take up Australia's offer to play games Down Under, it has been decided to press ahead with the original itinerary
The Lions and SA Rugby released a joint statement on Tuesday to confirm an agreement is in place over the staging of the tour, which begins on July 3 and continues into early August.
"After reviewing information relating to the various contingency scenarios being considered, I can confirm that the board's intended position is for the Tour to go ahead as scheduled in South Africa in 2021," said Lions chairman Jason Leonard.
"We acknowledge that there is a significant amount of work still to be undertaken to deliver a robust Covid-19 countermeasure plan to ensure a successful, safe and uninterrupted Tour. SA Rugby will have our full support to help implement this plan."
However, the original plan for the Lions to play five warm-up matches against provincial teams, an invitational side and second-string South Africa A before the three-Test series with the Springboks could still change.
"We appreciate the Lions' faith and share their desire to see a safe and successful tour,” said SA Rugby president Mark Alexander in the same statement.
"We have been in regular contact with our government to make that a reality against the backdrop of the pandemic and its predicted progression over the coming months.
"There are serious financial implications for SA Rugby, should the event take place without any supporters in attendance, and we cannot ignore that in our considerations.
"But we are determined that the eventual outcome will deliver the best occasion and experience for players, supporters and our commercial partners."
Speaking earlier on Tuesday, RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney acknowledged the preferred contingency plan of staging the tour in the UK had become increasingly unviable.
"It was always the preferred option to go to South Africa," he said. "We had to develop a whole range of different scenarios given the potential outcomes and one of those was a UK series.
"It's quite controversial as it's not the spirit of the Lions, but as fall-back option, we thought it was a strong one. If they can't host it, the agreement's off and we've probably run out of time to host it in the UK, so you play in 2025."
Lions coach Warren Gatland is due to announce a squad for the tour at the start of May, with the first warm-up match to be played on home soil on Murrayfield against Japan on June 26.
Premiership title just the start for Saracens – Owen Farrell
Owen Farrell insists there is plenty more to come from Saracens after guiding the club to Gallagher Premiership glory with a 35-25 success over Sale at Twickenham.
Sarries’ 35-25 victory made amends for last season’s last-gasp final defeat by Leicester to deliver their first silverware since being relegated for salary cap breaches in 2020.
England skipper Farrell dismissed the notion of redemption for that painful loss to the Tigers as he outlined his optimism for the future.
Asked about the result in the context of Saracens’ recent setbacks, the fly-half said: “It feels important but I’m not too sure, if I’m honest.
“I think what’s more important is how we’ve been all season. The difference that we made at the start of the year, the difference in raising our ceiling of where we can go.
“And, at this moment in time, regardless of how today went, it still feels like there is a lot for this young team now still to go.
“There is a feeling of wanting to get the best out of ourselves and that will carry on for a long time now.”
Saracens defied a spirited Sale, mini injury crisis and climate activists to become champions for a sixth time.
Two Just Stop Oil protestors brought a halt to the game in the first half when they ran on to the pitch to throw orange paint powder before being led away by stewards amid jeers from the crowd.
A penalty try and scores from Max Malins, Elliot Daly and Ivan van Zyl helped the London side to victory in blazing sunshine, aided by 13 points from the boot of man of the match Farrell.
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall believes his skipper is playing the “best rugby of his life” and has taken his leadership to “a whole new level”.
“If you spent a week at our training ground, you wouldn’t believe just how influential he is, how clear he is with the playing group, how emotive he is, what standards he sets, how supportive he is to team-mates young and old,” McCall said of Farrell.
“He’s playing the best rugby of his life at the moment but his leadership has gone to a whole new level.
“When the game was in the balance and it was 25-23 (to Sale) and we lacked a bit of energy, our senior players grasped the nettle really and saw us through very well in the last 15 or 20 minutes.
“We had a lot of control in that period of time and I think that’s down to their experience in those situations. They’ve been there and done it before and they showed a lot of experience when we needed it most.”
Saracens defy injuries to hold off Sale and win Premiership title
Saracens defied a spirited Sale, mini injury crisis and climate activists to clinch the Gallagher Premiership title for a sixth time at Twickenham.
A 35-25 victory over the Sharks made amends for last season’s last-gasp defeat by Leicester at the same stage and delivers their first silverware since being relegated for salary cap breaches in 2020.
Two Just Stop Oil protestors brought a halt to the game in the first half when they ran on to the pitch, letting off orange smoke bombs before being led away by stewards amid jeers from the crowd.
Both were arrested and while orange patches were still evident on the pitch at the final whistle, the interruption failed to take the shine off an enthralling climax to the season.
Saracens threatened to pull clear before and after half-time but Sale stayed in the fight and then pounced in a dominant third quarter that saw tries by Tom Roebuck and Bevan Rodd seize the lead.
But drawing on all the experience accumulated during 13 years of Premiership and European finals, Saracens showed their resolve to hit back through Elliot Daly and Ivan van Zyl.
Daly’s 67th-minute try, born out of Joe Carpenter’s charged-down kick, will make painful viewing for Sale as the moment when the lead and momentum of the game swung dramatically.
The blazing sunshine sapped the players’ energy and Saracens had to deal with the additional early challenge of losing a second England front-rower after Jamie George’s afternoon was ended by a possible concussion sustained during a tackle by Tom Curry.
Shortly before kick-off prop Mako Vunipola was withdrawn from the bench through injury yet for all the disruption, the score was tied at 6-6 heading into the second quarter.
Farrell had shaded the early phase of his duel with Ford but Manu Tuilagi’s forceful runs through Saracens’ midfield marked him out as the most dangerous player on the field.
The arrival of the two protestors ignited an eventful spell as after they were dealt with by stewards, play resumed with last year’s runners-up taking the lead through a penalty try.
Alex Goode threaded a bobbling kick down the right touchline and with Max Malins about to grab the ball and fall over, he was tackled by Curry to deny a certain try. Curry was sin-binned to compound matters.
Wing Sean Maitland was the latest Saracen to depart injured and the frantic pace continued with Sale’s Akker van der Merwe crossing from close range before Malins touched down after Farrell had drawn an attempted big hit from Tuilagi.
The first half finished with the London club launching a series of high-tempo raids and Sale needed to score soon to stop them marauding out of sight.
The try came in the 45th minute when a defensive error by Daly allowed Tom Roebuck over and moments later Daly saw what should have been a routine score disallowed for a foot in touch.
Farrell kicked a penalty but Sale were over again through a move started when Tuilagi careered through the midfield and that ended with Rodd appearing at scrum-half to pounce from short range.
The Sharks were dominating but when a clearance was charged down Saracens reacted in a flash, winning the ball and feeding it wide where Daly was waiting to score.
And the turnaround was completed when a training ground move sent Malins into space for Van Zyl to finish, with the TMO confirming the match-settling score.
Just Stop Oil protesters disrupt Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham
Just Stop Oil protesters forced a stoppage in play during Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham.
Two men invaded the pitch midway through the first half of the match between Saracens and Sale, throwing orange paint powder on to the field.
Fans jeered the duo before cheering as stewards escorted them from the stadium.
Orange powder remained on the field as the match resumed.
The protest followed a similar one at the World Snooker Championship in April.
On that occasion, a man tipped orange paint on the table during the match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry at the Crucible in Sheffield.
A woman was prevented from executing a similar stunt on the other table after being tackled by quick-thinking referee Olivier Marteel.
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