The British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa has hit a serious snag after four Vodacom Bulls tested positive for Covid-19, SA Rugby has revealed.
The planned British & Irish Lions match against the Bulls scheduled for Saturday has been called off, but could still be played at a later date.
On Tuesday, four Bulls players and one member of management returned positive Covid-19 tests.
South Africa is in the throes of the third wave, driven by the more deadly Delta variant.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases on Tuesday said the country recorded 15 501 new cases of Covid-19 and 457 deaths from the virus.
Earlier this week four players from the visiting Georgian team tested positive for Covid-19.
More positive results have also been returned by the Springbok team throwing the Friday fixture in doubt.
Springbok players Marvin Orie, Frans Steyn, Handre Pollard and Frans Malherbe have tested positive for the virus.
In addition, six management officials and the Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber also tested positive.
“These positive results are a setback and have underlined the danger of transmissibility of the Delta variant,” said Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby.
“The Springboks’ second Test against Georgia is now in serious doubt.”
The Boks are scheduled to play Georgia at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Friday.
