Senior members of the Lions’ management team visited Jersey this week to discuss travel and accommodation logistics for the 10-day training camp, which will be held just before the Lions’ Test match against Japan at BT Murrayfield Stadium on Saturday 26 June.
The delegation also discussed the Covid-19 protocols that would be in place during the training camp, and possibilities for community engagement while the squad and coaches are in Jersey.
“This visit has confirmed that Jersey can provide the facilities and support that we need,” Lions Head Coach Warren Gatland, who also visited Guernsey after controversially being given a special exemption to tour local facilities without the need to self-isolate.
Jersey is to host a training camp for The British and Irish Lions ahead of their 2021 tour to South Africa.
The ten-day training camp will be held just before the Lions’ test match against Japan at BT Murrayfield on Saturday 26 June #LionsRugby #JerseyCI https://t.co/maId7yi1wq pic.twitter.com/lcJEyP3gt9— Sen. Lyndon Farnham (@lyndonfarnham) April 16, 2021
“I will be bringing the coaching and management team back to the island later this month to finalise plans and I’m confident that, when the squad arrives in June, we will have the environment we need to prepare to meet the Springboks.”
Earlier this week, Guernsey Raiders Co-Chair Charles McHugh argued that his side had better clubhouse facilities than in Jersey. “I think their reason is that they [the Lions] don’t feel that they want to be embroiled in a political situation.”
Gatland had reportedly told Mr McHugh that the Footes Lane facilities were “hugely impressive”, “entirely suitable for what he wanted” and that he “wasn’t too bothered that we don’t have a bariatric chamber.”
Pictured top: Warren Gatland announcing the decision (Credit: British & Irish Lions).