No extra-time if Lions series with South Africa is drawn

Lions head coach Warren Gatland said the drawn 2017 series with the All Blacks felt “a bit like kissing your sister”

Warren Gatland may have to consider kissing his sister on Saturday night if the British & Irish Lions final Test against South Africa ends all square in Cape Town.

The Lions head coach said the drawn 2017 series with the All Blacks “feels a bit like kissing your sister” after the third and final Test at Auckland’s Eden Park finished 15-15 with no provision for extra time having been made with the sides having won a game apiece in New Zealand.

Four years on and the series with the Springboks is similarly poised following the world champions rebounded from a 22-17 first-Test defeat to win 27-9 in last Saturday’s second Test at Cape Town Stadium.

Asked if he would fancy extra time to settle the 2021 series if the scores were level after 80 minutes, Gatland replied: “I’d never even thought about that until you raised it.

“Maybe that’s something that someone can talk about over the next few days, about whether we do potentially go to extra time if it is a draw. It’s not a bad idea.”

Unfortunately for Gatland, a Lions spokesman nipped that notion in the bud, saying there was an agreement between the two teams already in place that if the third Test is tied at full time it will stand as a draw.