SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Giving Lions tour the green light for South Africa is the right call

First and foremost, the Lions playing South Africa anywhere is better than not playing at all. 

There is a huge appetite for the show to go on — among players, coaches, public, sponsors and media. The best of British and Irish against the world champions is just the sort of box-office event the sport needs to raise its profile after the Covid disruption. 

It would have been a crying shame if the whole venture had to be scrapped. Officials had been backed into a corner. The Australian offer to host a tour had too many strings attached and not enough financial certainty. 

The fall-back scenario of matches taking place in the UK and Ireland was equally beset by doubts. A postponement was deemed — wrongly — to be too complex. 

Of course, such a marquee sporting spectacle should be played out in front of vast crowds, but there was no guarantee these would be permitted, even in England. 

Any delay to vaccine supplies, as forecast, may set back the timetable for easing lockdown.

Lions players, coaches and staff may be forced to operate in an uncomfortable bubble and must stick to all agreed protocols, but they will be on a daunting tour far from home, as tradition dictates. 

They will miss their fabled ‘Red Army’ when the Tests take place — as will the South African economy — but two powerful teams will lock horns, watched by millions of fans. That is far better than nothing.