Lions ignite war of words with New Year’s message for the Springboks

The British & Irish Lions fired off the first shots in anger as the year of their tour to South Africa arrived with the 2021 New Year celebrations.

The most famous touring side in sport will travel to the home of the World Champions this summer – 12 years after losing out on their last visit to the Springboks.

The war of words began in earnest last night – with the Northern Hemisphere side drawing first blood.

Social media was awash with banter flying back and forth between the nations of the British & Irish Lions and South Africa with many fans looking forward to the much-anticipated sporting event.

Rugby followers of the Springboks have had no test match rugby to enjoy since their side’s controversial World Cup triumph in 2019 where they took the Webb Ellis Cup in Japan.

This has only added to the expectation ahead of this year’s Lions tour showdown with many rugby commentators predicting a series whitewash for the World Champions who are widely considered to have fallen behind on the international stage.

The Lions posted a simple message as we entered 2021 last night with this message for their supporters.

2021 is going to be special.

It is the Year of the Lions!

Leave us a 🦁 if you’re excited#LionsRugby pic.twitter.com/WrwXU9FGcR

— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) January 1, 2021

It wasn’t that message that drew the wrath of Springbok fans, however, as a separate social media post from the touring side on Twitter immediately ignited a war of words with South Africa that drew fans into a frenzy.

Here is the New Year’s message that the British & Irish Lions posted last night for their followers.