- Bulls CEO Edgar Rathbone is confident their game against the British & Irish Lions can still take place.
- Saturday's scheduled match at Loftus Versfeld was postponed after a Covid outbreak in the Bulls squad.
- Rathbone hinted that the rescheduled match could take place on Tuesday, 20 July - likely in Cape Town.
Bulls CEO Edgar Rathbone says they are optimistic that their match against the British & Irish Lions can still take place.
The game, originally scheduled for this Saturday (10 July), has been postponed after a Covid-19 outbreak in the Bulls camp.
The Lions tackle the Sharks in Johannesburg on Wednesday night, before taking on the SA 'A' side in Cape Town next Wednesday (14 July). They'll tackle the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, 17 July - a week before the first Test at the same ground on 24 July.
The schedule makes it hard to see where the rescheduled Bulls game will fit in, but Rathbone told reporters on Tuesday night that they were still hopeful it could take place.
"The option on the table at the moment is the Tuesday before the first Test (20 July). That's the first option, I don't know if there will be an option between Tests... it's not on the schedule... but this [tour] happens every 12 years so hopefully there is a chance," he said.
Rathbone acknowledged that the Bulls may need to tackle the Lions away from their home fortress Loftus Versfeld.
"It's not a question I have an answer to at the moment. [But] if you have to look at it logically then it would probably be in Cape Town as the Lions will [then] be in their bubble over there," he said.
Rathbone did not reveal the names of the five Bulls players who tested positive but acknowledged they may miss the rescheduled game.
He noted it took 17 days after testing positive for Covid that a player could return to action.
"It's 10 days [of isolation] and then for a sportsman it's seven more days before return to play. So, in effect, it can be 17 days. But obviously the seven days, which is return to play, is not in isolation... it's back on the training field.
"And upon their return we do all kinds of tests on the players... in terms of their heart function and lung capacity and all those types of things. For some players [a return] takes longer and for others it goes faster."
He stressed that this protocol had to be strictly followed.
"All the players we've had that tested positive followed those regulations. You can't really get around it. Like I've said, everyone obviously wants to play rugby, but at the end of the day you have to make sure the player is healthy... like we've seen with Walt (Steenkamp), who was out much longer than those 17 days."
The Bulls boss was confident they'd be able to put a team out should a new date be arranged to tackle the Lions.
"The reality is that it's just five players [who tested positive]. We have a group of 45 players. As soon as the other players test negative, it means those players who tested positive would likely not be able to play against the British Lions if that match gets rescheduled."
Rathbone added that it would be sad from a player perspective if the Bulls can't duel the tourists.
"There's commercial value on the whole tour so it's not only an impact on us, but on the industry as a whole. [But] it's more about having a group of players who were excited to play against the British Lions and it's an opportunity which likely only happens once in a young guy's life... that's almost the biggest disappointment. Financial [issues] come a go, but that opportunity is over if [the match cannot take place] unfortunately."