Jamie Roberts: British and Irish Lions centre says hosting South Africa should be last resort

Jamie Roberts was 22 when he toured South Africa with the British and Irish Lions in 2009

British and Irish Lions centre Jamie Roberts hopes the idea of playing the 2021 series against South Africa at home will be a last resort.

The series could be held in the United Kingdom and Ireland in July and August if fans cannot travel.

That is one contingency plan discussed by the Lions board in the event the trip to South Africa is abandoned.

"I hope they exhaust every possible opportunity for it to be hosted in South Africa," said Roberts.

"Whether it be later in the year or next summer, before they look at hosting it in the UK."

The South African rugby union has previously made it clear a tour without visiting fans would not be commercially viable for them and the Lions board is also thought to be unenthusiastic about the Idea.

It is hoped a vaccine would allow fans to attend games in the UK by summer. In a statement released last Saturday, the Lions board said they had been having "repeated meetings to discuss all scenarios available".

The original plan is for the Lions to travel to South Africa to play five provincial games before the three-Test series against the world champions.

A revised plan is likely to see the Test matches held at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, Wembley and Twickenham.

Lockdown rules currently forbid fans from attending sports events but, even if restrictions are lifted, the Lions board is worried the large movement of people a Test series would bring could put any Covid-19 recovery in jeopardy.

It had been mooted the tour might be delayed until 2022, but all four nations have Test matches scheduled for that summer window and are not keen on the idea because of the 2023 World Cup.

Another option would be to cancel the series and put the South Africa trip back to 2025 before in turn bouncing the next Australia and New Zealand visits back four years.

Roberts travelled to South Africa in 2009, when he was man-of-the-series in a 2-1 defeat. He also scored a try in the series-deciding victory over Australia four years later in Sydney.

The 34-year-old played for South African side Stormers in early 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic forced him back to Wales where he signed for Dragons.

"The chance of it going ahead in July in South Africa looks very slim, I don't think they will start vaccinating people there until the summer," Roberts told the Scrum V podcast.

"I would love to see it go ahead in South Africa, with fans, everybody would. I would not like to see the next option of it being hosted in the UK.

"I would rather it be hosted at a different time in South Africa with fans because a Lions tour deserves that. The tradition, romance and magic around the Lions is all about touring.

"Playing against all the provincial sides in the build-up to the tests, that is what the tour is about.

"Most importantly it is about the fans. Travelling en masse as a collective to a southern hemisphere country with a rich rugby heritage and watching their touring side play.

"I was lucky to tour South Africa, it's an amazing country and it's such a shame if players don't get to experience that.

"So I think they will do everything in their power to host the tour in South Africa whether that be in the winter or next summer.

"This is the world we are living in though. If it is all about fulfilling these fixtures in the summer in the UK and Ireland for monetary reasons, then so be it. I just hope that would be the last avenue."