Gatland "disappointed" no crowds for Lions tour

British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland admitted it was “sad” that the tour to South Africa would go ahead without the normal travelling band of fans.

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While SA Rugby still hopes for a late reprieve in getting fans into stadiums, Gatland says he will miss the sea of red that normally accompanies the tours down south and gives the tour a very unique flavour. 

With the Lions kicking off their tour in Scotland on Saturday with a warm-up match against World Cup quarterfinalists Japan, Gatland is chomping at the bit that the tour is actually starting.

“It’s come around pretty quickly in the end because it seemed to take forever in getting the team announced,” Gatland said at the team announcement but admitted it was a strange situation at the moment.

“It is kinda strange at the moment because even though we are in our bubble, it seems pretty familiar in what you’d normally do except you can’t walk into town on your days off and have coffee and those sort of things. 

“We are aware of some of the restrictions and we’ve got to plan accordingly for that, to keep the boys entertained as best we can and excited a bit.”

And then he turned to the crowds, and said it was a disappointment not to see them in the stands.

“I think there is a hint of disappointment, of sadness, that we’re not going to have fans and we won’t see that sea of red that you associate Lions tours with. The away fans and the atmosphere that they create in the grounds. 

“That is going to be the downside of that, so hopefully the rugby will do the talking and we need to make sure that all the fans we have back in the UK and Ireland, we try and connect with them as much as we can through social media and make sure they’re as engaged as possible and that is going to be an important aspect for us for the tour, keeping people up to date. That is incredibly important for us as a Lions team.

The Lions will leave for South Africa after the Murrayfield clash, which will be live on SuperSport on Saturday, kicking off at 4pm.