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UK-based British and Irish Lions players will not be able to return home directly after Saturday’s decisive test against the Springboks, after South Africa was kept on the red list and the government rejected the request for total exemption from quarantine of the touring party.
It is understood that instead of quarantining themselves for 10 days at a designated hotel – at a cost of £ 2,285 per person – around half of the tour group will return to Jersey, where the Lions spent two weeks for a training camp before leaving for South Africa.
The Lions have chartered their own plane and intend to drop off the Ireland-based players, who can quarantine themselves at home, before heading to the Channel Island, where they will be subject to minimum restrictions. Some of the tour members made their own arrangements, with Warren Gatland supposed to return to New Zealand.
The Lions were hoping to be granted a quarantine exemption when they return to the UK immediately after the tour, but it is understood their request has been rejected by the government. The Lions had expected the decision and planned to go to Jersey accordingly, but eyebrows will be raised on how the British Olympians did not have to isolate themselves on their return from Tokyo.
Japan is on the government’s amber list, which means no quarantine is needed as long as travelers have been fully vaccinated, but while Lions have adhered to strict restrictions on bubbles for nearly six weeks in South Africa, the Olympians had more freedom and interaction with athletes from all over the world. world.
This means some Lions players will have spent most of the 10 weeks away from home – an issue Gatland raised ahead of the tour. “The rugby team takes care of itself, so it’s important to do other things right and to think about the well-being and mental health of the players,” he said. “Rugby is going to be the easy part.”
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England Lions players are guaranteed to have 10 weeks off after the tour and it is understood that their 10 day stay in Jersey will count towards this rest period meaning they will be hors de combat until in mid-October.
With England set to play three autumn internationals in November, Premiership clubs risk being deprived of their Lions players for much of the season. After the Saracens were promoted to the Premiership, their rugby manager, Mark McCall, said of his five Lions contingent: “Our Lions players will not be available for a good part at the start of next season and we know it’s gonna be hard to accommodate.
Meanwhile, Alun Wyn Jones has revealed that this week’s training sessions have been intense as he prepares for a decisive third game in the Lions series which also appeared in the final tests in 2013 and 2017, when the scores were tied at 1-1. “Our Tuesday session was tasty again,” he said. “He displayed the advantage we’ve seen on similar occasions before. It’s the best preparation we can have for these weeks and these games.
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