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'There are people within the Lions bubble not double-jabbed'

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Lions managing director Ben Calveley has admitted following a damaging day for the tour in South Africa that there were people in their tour party who weren’t double-jabbed. Wednesday night’s match versus the Sharks eventually went ahead following a day of concern which resulted in one player and one member of staff testing positive for Covid and twelve people being identified as close contacts – eight players and four staff members.

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This resulted in Warren Gatland having to reshape his team as eight of the chosen matchday 23 became unavailable – starters Ali Price, Dan Biggar, Liam Williams and Anthony Watson along with replacements Tadhg Beirne, Conor Murray, Stuart Hogg and Chris Harris.  

Asked on Sky Sports at the stadium in Johannesburg about the immunisation status of the Lions party on the same day that Friday’s Springboks versus Georgia match was cancelled due to the virus, Calveley said: “Nearly all of the Lions tour party have been double-jabbed. There are people within the Lions bubble that haven’t been double-jabbed but the vast majority of people have been double-jabbed.  

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“We had one positive case in the camp this morning. That person had four close contacts so two of them were players, two of them were management. We immediately isolated everyone in the tour party and then both lateral flow and PCR tested everybody and those results came back negative apart from one single team positive. 

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have isolated that one individual and all of his close contacts, but we then consulted with our medical advisory group that contains all of the relevant medical experts and their advice is that the fixture can proceed… we see it as a positive. We are showing that we can overcome all of the challenges that face us and we are determined that we can put a tour on for the players, for the fans and for all of our friends here in South Africa.”

Asked about the general safety of the Lions squad, Lions boss Calveley continued: “We are in a secure, tightly controlled bubble environment but what is the case, and we have seen this in sport around the world, is that no bubble is entirely impenetrable. That is why we set up our medical advisory group so we can take advice from the experts on whether it is okay to proceed with matches like this and we are really pleased that they have said that it is okay. 

“We just very calmly work through the challenges as they present themselves. We take things one step at a time. The focus today has been on making sure we can get this fixture over the line which we have. 

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“We then turn our attention to the weekend and we know that the Bulls aren’t able to put a side out so we are working with the South African rugby union to see if we can find alternative opponents for Saturday or if we can’t, to see if we can rearrange that fixture for later in the tour. The approach is to stay calm, stay focused and take things one step at a time. 

“The Test series is absolutely paramount. Our intention is to do everything we can to make sure we can get those games over the line in South Africa. We play the match tonight, we then move on and deal with Saturday, we then move on to Cape Town on Sunday and at the moment there is no intention to deviate from that agreed schedule.”

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Oh no, not him again? 1 hour ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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