Several weeks after attending Wembley to support England in the Euro 2020 final, Prince William has thrown his support behind the British and Irish Lions as they open their South Africa series.
The northern hemisphere’s elite rugby stars will take on the Springboks at Cape Town Stadium in the opening Test of their best-of-three series on Saturday.
Head coach Warren Gatland sprung a number of surprises with his selection, while South Africa’s XV is close to the one that started their 2019 Rugby World Cup final win over England.
The tourists will need all the help they can get to overcome the world’s top-ranked nation, and Prince William did his part to cheer on the Lions ahead of their Cape Town curtain-raiser:
With only hours to go before kick-off on the continent’s southern tip, the Duke of Cambridge tweeted: “Wishing the @Lionsofficial team all the best ahead of the opening Test in Cape Town! It’s brilliant to see @AlunWynJones back fit and healthy, ready to lead the team. W.”
The royal family member doesn’t make a habit of discussing personal matters and interests via social media but put policy to one side to send the Lions his support from afar.
And his message highlighted the return to fitness of Lions captain Alun Wyn Jones, who was briefly ruled out of contention after dislocating his shoulder eight minutes into their tour.
Wales legend Jones suffered the injury in the opening exchanges of a warm-up clash against Japan in late June but described it as a “very, very special thing” having recovered to start on Saturday.
“To be sitting here now and to be involved in the Test team is everything I have ever worked for really over the last…I would be lying if I said it was two years, it is probably four years,” Jones said.
“Obviously when you finish a series or a tour you don’t know whether you are going to tour next and a lot of games go under the bridge.
“To be sitting here now is a very, very special thing, but it is only a very short step to what is going to be, hopefully, a very enjoyable week.”
Jones was part of the Lions tour that lost the series 2-1 the last time they travelled to South Africa in 2009, but Gatland has since gone undefeated in two series as the head coach.
The Lions will hope Prince William’s well wishes have a more positive effect on their fortunes than they did for England’s national team, who lost the Euro 2020 final at Wembley with him in attendance.