The British & Irish Lions schedule currently remains on track to stick to the planned fixtures in Gauteng and Cape Town, but the tour could be shifted to the Mother City as a Plan B if required.

The British & Irish Lions squad and management landed in Johannesburg on Monday morning after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed that the country will be moving into level-four lockdown restrictions.

ALSO READ: Top five fastest players in the world

The tour will still go ahead despite the restrictions as Monday’s Government Gazette confirmed that all professional sporting events are still allowed.

However, with travel in and out of Gauteng prohibited, it remains to be seen whether the Lions’ five matches scheduled in that province will proceed or be moved to a different province.

This Saturday’s match between the B&I Lions and Golden Lions in Johannesburg will go ahead as planned.

However, the remaining seven games – including the three Tests against the Springboks – could be relocated to Cape Town in a scenario where it is no longer deemed viable to travel between Gauteng and the Western Cape.

The Covid-19 situation is less severe in the Western Cape and SA Rugby has reportedly already been looking into moving the tour there as a contingency plan.

The B&I Lions are currently set to play a total of five games in either Johannesburg or Pretoria, but keeping the teams’ respective bio-bubbles secure would be a massive challenge given the rising Covid-19 numbers in the province.

The full Lions Series 2021 was set to look like this:

• Saturday 3 July: Emirates Lions v The British & Irish Lions (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg) KO 18h00 (SAT) / 17h00 (BST)
• Wednesday 7 July: Cell C Sharks v The British & Irish Lions (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg) KO 20h00 (SAT) / 19h00 (BST)
• Saturday 10 July: Vodacom Bulls v The British & Irish Lions (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria) KO 18h00 (SAT) / 17h00 (BST)
• Wednesday 14 July: South Africa ‘A’ v The British & Irish Lions (Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town) KO 20h00 (SAT) / 19h00 (BST)
• Saturday 17 July: DHL Stormers v The British & Irish Lions (Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town) KO 18h00 (SAT) / 17h00 (BST)
• Saturday 24 July: Springboks v The British & Irish Lions (1^st Test, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town) KO 18h00 (SAT) / 17h00 (BST)
• Saturday 31 July: Springboks v The British & Irish Lions (2^nd Test, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg) KO 18h00 (SAT) / 17h00 (BST)
• Saturday 7 Aug: Springboks v The British & Irish Lions (3^rd Test, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg) KO 18h00 (SAT) / 17h00 (BST)

Photo: Getty Images