Leinster plans for South African trip undone by visa gaffe

Jamison Gibson-Park had warned that Leinster’s trip to South Africa would make for a tricky assignment.

That was long before yesterday’s farce on the team’s arrival in Johannesburg via Paris and one which ended with the Kiwi scrum-half, as well as his compatriot and the province’s captain Isa Nacewa, refused entry due to visa issues and returning to Ireland.

The scrum-half spent four seasons in Super Rugby, the first three with the Blues and the last an abridged one with the Hurricanes, before relocating to Ireland two summers ago. Long-haul trips to the Rainbow nation were nothing new to him.