Lions Forced to Cancel Rainbow Cup Match Due to Infection

The PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA match between the Lions and Stormers, scheduled for Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, has been cancelled in line with COVID-19 protocols to limit the risk of further infection in the rugby community.

The decision was taken as part of prescribed precautions advised by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) to limit the risk of further infection in the rugby community.

The decision was triggered on Friday following positive results from scheduled testing of the Lions squad. As determined by the competition rules, the fixture will be deemed a 0-0 draw and the Stormers will be awarded four log points because they were not the cause of the cancellation. The Capetonians will finish on 17 log points, while the Lions will remain on eight.

“The Lions have followed all protocols and taken all the appropriate steps,” said Jurie Roux, SA Rugby CEO. “While the cancellation is unfortunate, their approach ensures that the risk of cancellation of their match against the British & Irish Lions in the Castle Lager Lions Series on 3 July is well managed.”

The race for top spot in the PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA now goes down to the wire as the Sharks and Bulls meet in Durban on Saturday for a place in next weekend’s North v South final, with kick-off at Jonsson Kings Park set for 18h15.

That means all the attention will move to Durban, where the Bulls will go into their clash with the Sharks with a four-point advantage, but the KwaZulu-Natalians can still sneak into first place to earn a place alongside Benetton in the Rainbow Cup final.

The Sharks will welcome back a bunch of their top players for this clash. After the enforced resting of Springbok players last weekend in the team’s match-winning performance against the Lions, Sharks head coach Sean Everitt has been able to bring back squad leaders Lukhanyo Am and Siya Kolisi, with Curwin Bosch returning at flyhalf and Aphelele Fassi back in the number 15 jersey.

“We’ve bounced back before and we haven’t lost to the Bulls at home, so we’re very keen to turn the tables on them at home,” he said.

Source: SARugby