Saturday's Lions vs Pumas match falls victim to Covid-19

The Lions’ Super Rugby Unlocked clash with the Pumas scheduled for Ellis Park on Saturday has been postponed in line with Covid-19 protocols.

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‚ SA Rugby said.

The intention is to reschedule the match as soon as possible. The Lions earlier in the campaign had their home clash against the Cheetahs called off for the same reason.

The match was never rescheduled and the teams were awarded two log points each.

The latest decision was triggered on Friday following receipt of two further positive results from a second batch of tests after one player from the Pumas returned a positive  result in scheduled testing earlier in the week.

Contact tracing protocols were followed‚ which identified that all the infected players were engaged in a scrumming session. As a result‚ a number of the Pumas forwards have been placed in quarantine for 10 days.

The Pumas are scheduled to conclude their Super Rugby Unlocked programme at Loftus Versfeld on November 20. Plans are already being made to reschedule both Pumas’ matches against the Lions and Bulls.

Rescheduling the match will be easier for the Lions as they were supposed to play their last Super Rugby Unlocked match against the Pumas.

Griquas’ match against the Sharks on Friday night and the Stormers meeting with the Cheetahs on Saturday are unaffected.