The 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa was an international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

tour that took place in South Africa in July and August 2021. The

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

, a team selected from players eligible to represent

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, played a three-match test series against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and tour matches against three of South Africa's four

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

teams and South Africa A. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

significantly disrupted the tour, leading to numerous schedule changes and the matches in South Africa taking place without fans present. Before leaving for South Africa, the Lions beat Japan in a warm-up match at

Murrayfield Stadium Murrayfield Stadium (known as BT Murrayfield Stadium for sponsorship reasons, or popularly as Murrayfield) is a Rugby stadium located in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has a seating capacity of 67,144 making it the largest sta ...

in Edinburgh. They won all of their matches against the South African franchises, but lost to South Africa A. South Africa won the test series by two matches to one. The Lions won the first test 22–17 on 24 July, but South Africa won the second test 27–9 a week later before winning the third test 19–16 with a late penalty on 7 August.

Warren Gatland Warren David Gatland (born 17 September 1963) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player who is currently in his second spell as the head coach of the Wales national team. As head coach of Wales from 2007 to 2019, he won four Six N ...

was the Lions' head coach, making him only the second coach to lead the team on three consecutive tours.

Alun Wyn Jones Alun Wyn Jones (born 19 September 1985) is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a Rugby union/lock, lock for the Ospreys (rugby union), Ospreys and the Wales national rugby union team, Wales national team. He is List of rugby u ...

of Wales was the Lions' tour captain, but was injured in the home match against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on 26 June; he initially withdrew from the squad before returning three weeks later. Ireland's

Conor Murray Conor Murray (born 20 April 1989) is an Irish rugby union player who plays for Munster in the United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup. Internationally, Murray has represented Ireland and the British & Irish Lions, whom he ...

took over as captain during Jones' absence.

Schedule

The eight-match schedule was announced on 4 December 2019, and confirmed on 14 May 2021. The Lions also scheduled a home match against Japan for 26 June, the first time the teams had met, and the first game to be hosted by the Lions since they played

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. Unlike recent tours, when the Lions played seven games against non-national teams, in 2021 there are only five. Due to the uncertainty of the

, it was reported in early 2021 that the tour could be held in Britain and Ireland instead of South Africa, postponed to 2022 or cancelled altogether. With the Lions traditionally being a touring side, thousands of fans signed a petition to put pressure on the Lions board to keep the tour in South Africa and postpone until 2022. In January 2021,

Rugby Australia Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named the Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It ...

offered to host the tournament in Australia if it could not be held in South Africa, but this was rejected. In March 2021, it was confirmed that the tour would go ahead as planned. Originally, the eight matches were to be played in the home stadiums of the Lions' opponents. Due to COVID, the schedule was changed so that all eight matches would be played in only four venues, all in

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, to reduce the teams' travel requirements. A match against an SA Invitational team was replaced by one against the South African

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

franchise to reduce the risks associated with drawing a squad from around the country. The match against the Bulls was cancelled due to several positive COVID tests in the Bulls' camp, and a second match against the Sharks was added instead. On 20 July, it was announced that the second and third tests would be moved from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

Squads

Lions

Lions chairman

Jason Leonard Jason Leonard (born 14 August 1968) is an English former rugby union player. He won a then-record 114 caps for England men’s rugby team during a 14-year international career. A prop, Leonard played club rugby for Barking RFC, Saracens and ...

announced an initial squad of 37 on 6 May 2021, made up of 11 players from

, 10 from

, 8 from

and 8 from

. Prop Andrew Porter withdrew from the squad on 5 June because of a toe injury; he was replaced by Kyle Sinckler.

Rónan Kelleher Rónan Kelleher (born 24 January 1998) is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker for United Rugby Championship club Leinster and the Ireland national team. Early life Kelleher was initially an outside back and then ...

joined the pre-tour training camp in

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

to cover for hookers

Jamie George Jamie Edward George (born 20 October 1990) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker for Premiership Rugby club Saracens and the England national team. Early life George played for local team Hertford Rugby Foo ...

and

Luke Cowan-Dickie Luke Anthony Cowan-Dickie (born 20 June 1993) is an English professional rugby union player for Exeter Chiefs in the English Premiership. He plays primarily as a hooker but can also play prop. Club career Cowan-Dickie has previously been dual- ...

, who had club commitments. Kelleher was not added to the touring squad at the time, but was called up to the squad on 14 July. On 26 June, tour captain

and

Justin Tipuric Justin Tipuric ( ; born 6 August 1989) is a Welsh people, Welsh international rugby union player who plays for Wales national rugby union team, Wales as an Flanker (rugby union), openside flanker. Early life Tipuric is of Croats, Croatian desce ...

withdrew from the tour after being injured against Japan; Adam Beard and

Josh Navidi Josh Navidi (born 30 December 1990) is a Welsh international rugby union player who plays for the Cardiff Rugby, Wales and British and Irish Lions. He has previously captained Wales U20. Personal life Navidi's father is Iranian and his mother ...

were called up as their replacements. On 14 July, Jones returned to the squad, having overcome his shoulder injury. On 10 July, Marcus Smith was called up as

Finn Russell Finn Alastair Russell (born 23 September 1992) is a Scottish professional rugby union player who primarily plays fly-half for Racing 92 in the Top 14. He has also represented Scotland at international level, having made his test debut against t ...

was injured, with Russell remaining on the tour. Notes: Ages listed are as of the first tour match on 26 June. Player positions are per the Lions' website. Bold denotes that the player was selected for a previous Lions squad. ''Italic'' denotes a player that withdrew from the squad following selection.

Management and staff

Reported candidates to coach the 2021 Lions included

, Eddie Jones,

Gregor Townsend Gregor Peter John Townsend, (born 26 April 1973) is a Scottish rugby union coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the Scotland national team having previously been an assistant coach from 2009 to 2012. As a player, he won ...

, Joe Schmidt,

Dai Young David "Dai" Young (born 26 July 1967) is a Welsh rugby union coach and former rugby union and rugby league footballer. He was recently Director of Rugby at Premiership Rugby club Wasps but departed the club after initially stepping down from f ...

and

Mark McCall Mark McCall (born 29 November 1967 in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland) is an Irish former rugby union player and current Director of Rugby (DoR) at Saracens. While DoR for Saracens the team has won the English Premiership Rugby competition ...

. Gatland was announced as the head coach on 12 June 2019. On 13 April 2021, Gatland announced his coaching team, including Scotland head coach

as attack coach, Scotland defence coach Steve Tandy, Leinster forwards coach

Robin McBryde Robin Currie McBryde (born 3 July 1970), is a rugby union former player and coach. He gained 37 caps for Wales. He played hooker. Background McBryde was born in north Wales. He is a fluent Welsh speaker. McBryde worked as an overhead linesman ...

and Wales kicking coach

Neil Jenkins Neil Jenkins, (born 8 July 1971) is a Welsh former rugby union player and current coach. He played fly-half, centre, or full back for Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors, Wales and the British & Irish Lions. Jenkins is Wales' highest ever ...

. This was the sixth tour for Jenkins (two as a player, four as a coach), for Townsend, Tandy and McBryde this is their first Lions tour as coaches.

South Africa

On 5 June, South Africa named a 46-man squad for their two-test series against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and the three tests against the British & Irish Lions. On 10 July, Lizo Gqoboka and Fez Mbatha were added to the squad as

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

cover. Coaching team: *Head coach:

Jacques Nienaber Jacques Nienaber (born 16 October 1972) is a South African rugby union coach who is currently the head coach of the South Africa national team, the Springboks. Early life Nienaber was born in Kimberley, but grew up in Bloemfontein, where he a ...

*Forwards coach: Deon Davids *Backs coach: Mzwandile Stick *Assistant coach:

Felix Jones Felix Jones Jr. (born May 8, 1987) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at the University of Arkansas and was drafted by t ...

*Assistant coach:

Daan Human Daniel Cornelius Francois Human (born 3 April 1976) is a South African former rugby union footballer who last played for Toulouse in the Top 14 competition. He played as a prop. He has four caps for the Springboks The South Africa nation ...

Note: Ages, caps and clubs as of first test match on 24 July 2021.

Matches

British & Irish Lions v Japan

The Lions began their 2021 tour with their first ever match in Scotland. Lions captain Alun Wyn Jones was substituted in the 7th minute after suffering a dislocated shoulder that seemed to rule him out of the tour. The Lions went 21–0 up in the first 23 minutes, through tries from Josh Adams,

Duhan van der Merwe Duhan van der Merwe (born ) is a South African-born Scottish rugby union player who currently plays for Edinburgh Rugby in the United Rugby Championship. Schoolboy rugby Van der Merwe was born and grew up in George in the Western Cape provinc ...

and

Robbie Henshaw Robbie Henshaw (born 12 June 1993) is an Irish rugby union player. He plays primarily as a centre, although he can also play fullback. Henshaw currently plays for Irish provincial team Leinster in the United Rugby Championship, and internatio ...

, all converted by Dan Biggar, but also lost flanker

to a shoulder injury in the 21st minute.

Tadhg Beirne Tadhg Gerard Beirne (; born 8 January 1992) is an Irish rugby union player, currently playing for Munster in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. His primary playing position is lock, but can also play in the b ...

added a fourth try after half-time, again converted by Biggar to make it 28–0. Japan responded with a try by

Kazuki Himeno is a Japanese international rugby union player who plays as a Loose Forward or Lock. He currently plays for the Highlanders in Super Rugby and Toyota Verblitz in Japan's domestic Top League. International After only 9 Top League appearance ...

after 58 minutes, converted by

Yu Tamura is a Japanese rugby union player. Tamura currently plays for the Canon Eagles rugby team. His regular playing positions are fly-half and Centre. Education Tamura studied at Meiji University. Playing career Tamura plays for the Sunwolves an ...

, who also kicked a penalty with 12 minutes to go to make the final score 28–10.

Lions v British & Irish Lions

Sharks v British & Irish Lions

South Africa A v British & Irish Lions

Stormers v British & Irish Lions

South Africa v British & Irish Lions (first test)

Notes: * Wyn Jones (British & Irish Lions) was originally named in the starting XV, but withdrew ahead of the game due to injury. He was replaced by Rory Sutherland, who was replaced by

Mako Vunipola Mako Vunipola (born 14 January 1991) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a loosehead prop for English club Saracens and the England national team. Born in New Zealand to Tongan parents, he qualified for England through residenc ...

on the bench. *

, Dan Biggar, Tom Curry, Jack Conan,

Stuart Hogg Stuart Hogg (born 24 June 1992) is a Scottish rugby union player who plays for Exeter Chiefs in the English Premiership and used to captain the Scottish national team. His playing positions are fullback and fly-half. Hogg has twice been nam ...

Ali Price Alistair William Price (born 12 May 1993) is a Scotland international rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Glasgow Warriors. Early life and education Price was born on 12 May 1993 in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England. He was educated ...

, Rory Sutherland,

and Hamish Watson all made their Lions test debuts. *

Handré Pollard Handré Pollard (born 11 March 1994) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and Leicester Tigers in England's Premiership Rugby. His regular playing positions are fly-half, wher ...

(South Africa) earned his 50th test cap. *With

and Rory Sutherland in the starting line-up, this match represented the first time since 2005 that any Scottish player started a British & Irish Lions test match, and the most Scottish players named in starting line-up since 1989.

South Africa v British & Irish Lions (second test)

Notes: *

Steven Kitshoff Steven Kitshoff (born 10 February 1992) is a South African rugby union rugby player. His playing position is loosehead prop. He represents the South Africa national team and the in the United Rugby Championship and previously Super Rugby, and ...

(South Africa) earned his 50th test cap. * Chris Harris made his Lions test debut.

South Africa v British & Irish Lions (third test)

Notes: *

Damian de Allende Damian de Allende (born 25 November 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and Japanese club Saitama Wild Knights. His usual position is either centre or wing. He was a ...

(South Africa) earned his 50th test cap. * Josh Adams, Bundee Aki, Adam Beard, Wyn Jones,

and Sam Simmonds all made their Lions test debuts.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2021 British And Irish Lions Tour To South Africa

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

British & Irish Lions tours of South Africa

British And Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...