Year wrap - BIL tour - A tour like no other

It was a British and Irish Lions tour like none other and it’s safe to say there will never be one like this ever again.

Played in front of empty stadiums, navigating Covid-19 scares and overshadowed by an hour-long refereeing rant video by Rassie Erasmus, the 2021 Lions tour will forever be in the history books and will be debated for years to come.

But if it highlighted one thing - and perhaps the biggest lesson that rugby administrators can take to heart as they move forward - it is that the most vital ingredient of any Lions tour - the fans - was sorely missing and made the tour soulless in the end.

The marauding bands of red jerseys that underline the rugby brotherhood was missing and what we were left with was hollow Zoom calls and bio-bubble hotels, games where the atmosphere was dead and a sense of emptiness about it all.

And while it would be easy to highlight the Erasmus video - as some British scribes have done - as poisoning the water around the tour, the truth is that, without fans, the tour was robbed of its passion before it began.

There may have been so many reasons why it had to go ahead, but in retrospect, it is difficult not to look back and wonder if a year postponement may have been the better choice, rather than what we were dished up.

So with that in mind, we look back at a tour like none other, and hand out a few different “awards” that we will remember it by.

THE LAZARUS AWARD - Alun Wyn Jones

Injuries are a part of any tour, but the Lazarus qualities of Alun Wyn Jones were put to the test after he injured himself in the game against Japan in the build-up to the tour.

Lo and behold, he was back for the test series having missed out on the warm-up games and showed that he is one of the greats in world rugby by leading the team with passion and pride.

For weeks it was unthinkable that he would get back in time for the tests, but by some minor miracle, he did. And the series was better for it.

THE REFFING AWARDS - Nic Berry and Ben O’Keefe

Much has already been said, videos have been made and so much has been debated about the aftermath of the first test and Nic Berry’s handling of the game.

But taking all the emotion out of it, Berry had a poor game as the match official. He allowed too much talk from the Lions and there were some real concerns that were overshadowed by the outcry to Rassie Erasmus’ video response.

Whatever you think of Erasmus’ methods, they did overshadow the fact that Berry had a poor game as ref, and the game deserved better.

As did TMO Marius Jonker, who was made the focus before and after the test, and did not deserve to be so.

Alternatively, the way Ben O’Keefe handled the second test, was much better. Stricter and forthright, O’Keefe was not perfect, but handled both sides in the same manner and gave the game some respectability back.

OVERCOMING THE ODDS AWARD - The Springbok team and Lions tour organisers

The worst scenario days before the tour began was that Covid would play such a massive role in the tour and when 26 members of the Springboks went down with the virus, it looked as if it would threaten the tour.

But the Boks overcame a lack of game time, a lack of playing together, 10 days in isolation in their hotel rooms and bio-bubbles to emerge and play the game.

As one Bok told me afterwards, if he knew then what he knows now about what they would go through, he wouldn't have done it again.

Ditto the tour organisers, who put together a tour despite the overwhelming odds, the lack of fans, and a pandemic that made things difficult.

There simply was no other option, and while the tour may not have been the same without fans, it was still a minor miracle to pull off

THE AGELESS WARRIOR - Morne Steyn

The script seemed to have been written for Morne Steyn when he was selected off the bench in the third test, and he came on, as predicted, to slot the winning penalty, as he did in 2009.

Steyn has been so criticised over the years for his play, but he is still the banker, the solid consistent player that any coach worldwide would have wanted on the field for a game like that.

And it showed.

No wonder he is the player most Lions fans despise.

GRUMPY FACE - Warren Gatland

There was a lot that was tainted about the tour, but the tactics of Warren Gatland, his demeanour and the way he started the mind games in the Lions series laid the platform for a toxic tour that few will forget.

While Erasmus brought a bazooka to a knife fight with his video, Gatland had a lot to do with the quality of rugby, the tactics, and his decision to try and out-Boks the Springboks with up and unders to make the game an arm wrestle.

Finn Russell’s introduction in the third test reminded us it could have been different, and as the Boks performances showed in the remaining tests in the year, they would have responded.

LEADERSHIP WARRIOR - Siya Kolisi

After being disrespected in the first test and under pressure, Springbok captain Siya Kolisi responded the only way he knew how - to rise above it all.

If 2019 showed Kolisi’s leadership at the World Cup, 2021 showed that no matter the obstacles he could rise above - as a captain and a player.

Kolisi’s form was exceptional in the series, and in the rest of the year. And while Jones may have led the Lions from the front, Kolisi is an exceptional captain for the Boks, and added another notch to his achievements in taking the side forward.

LIONS PLAYER OF THE SERIES - Maro Itoje

It was a manner of debate before the tests that Itoje had never played a good test against the Springboks before, but his performance in the first test seemed to be enough to have World Rugby nominate him for the player of the year award.

Itoje rose as the best player in the Lions squad by a country mile, and while he was overshadowed by Eben Etzebeth as the tour went on, he was still world-class.

He was lucky to get away with kneeling on Damian de Allende’s neck in the second test, but there was no question he came of age on the tour.

TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT AWARD - Lions Management in defending Kyle Sinckler biting allegation

Kyle Sinckler was cited for an alleged bite on Franco Mostert, and we all thought “here we go” - but the way the Lions approached and won the hearing probably sets a new bar in rugby, especially as the expert witness seemed to sway the hearing.

In the end, forensic odontologist Dr Douglas Sheasby said it could not be concluded whether the bite mark on South African lock Franco Mostert’s arm was from a “very slight movement of the teeth or the very slight movement of the skin or a combination of both mechanisms.”

And that was enough to dismiss it.

We still sit here stunned.

TRY OF THE SERIES - Cheslin Kolbe

While Lukhanyo Am’s try was nominated by World Rugby for the score in the SA A game against the Lions, the try of the series was undoubtedly in the third test where Cheslin Kolbe left everyone for dead with his dancing feet to get the Boks into a position to win the third and deciding test.

In terms of moments to remember, it is one for the memory banks.

FINAL THOUGHT - Never again

If the tour taught us anything, it is that it never should go ahead again without fans in the stands. Whatever the future holds and whatever obstacles it brings, to slim it down to a bite-sized tour is bad enough, but without fans, it is unbearable.

While it was a miracle that the tour took place and it gave us plenty of drama, the Lions tour exists because of the travelling fans, and without them, it is a shadow of the idea that spawned such a legendary contest.

To be honest, if the next tour to Australia doesn’t have fans, it may not be worth having.