Your rugby evening headlines for Monday, March 30.

British and Irish Lions tour broadcaster and kick-off details 'revealed'

There is a report in the Telegraph today that claims Sky Sports have once again won the television rights to broadcast the 2021 British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa.

If confirmed, the move would signal a continuation of a long-standing relationship between the broadcaster and the tourists.

The newspaper also report that the bidding process was completed earlier this year, meaning it was not affected by the fact that the tour will now clash with the Olympics.

After much deliberation, the Tokyo Olympics, which were due to be held this summer, were postponed a year due to Covid-19.

The Olympics will now clash with each of the three tests between the Springboks and the Lions.

However, it is said that direct clashes will be avoided with games supposedly kicking off at 5pm UK time, which is 1am in Japan.

Rugby star issues urgent appeal to South Africa

Springbok World Cup-winning skipper Siya Kolisi has sent a urgent message to his nation regarding the coronavirus.

Since Thursday, South Africa has been in lockdown but it appears the measures are not being respected in all quarters.

In a bid to drive home the seriousness of the virus, Kolosi begged his fellow countrymen and women to heed the warnings.

"People of South Africa, I'm begging you please; can we start listening to the message that the President has given us?" He said.

"It's imperative that we stay at home and stop roaming the streets. It's imperative that we wash our hands at all times.

"It’s imperative that we educate one another and we work together. It’s imperative that we listen to the police and the army when they tell us to stay home, and not fight them.

"There are lots of videos of people roaming the streets as if nothing is going on in South Africa.

"Whether you are old or whether you are a young person; your age doesn't matter.

"If you trust that you have a strong immune system, you must also think about the people who immune systems are not strong; people that have other illnesses such as HIV and TB.

“Please let’s all stay at home in your area, let’s look after one another because this thing can kill off generations to come.”

South Africa celebrate winning the Rugby World Cup in Japan

O'Driscoll reveals battle with poor eyesight

Brian O'Driscoll, revered around the globe as one of the best to ever pick up a rugby ball as revealed a startling fact about himself.

Throughout his career, he suffered with poor eyesight and only had treatment after he retired.

He revealed that it was so bad he was unable to make out somebody calling his name from across the road.

Speaking on Off the Ball’s new Kids Takeover segment on Newstalk O’Driscoll said: “It’s funny what the brain does and how it adapts. And probably my quality of life outside the rugby pitch improved massively when I did get my eyes lasered.

“It stopped me finding myself in situations where someone would call my name from across the road and I didn’t know if I knew that person or not.

“When I went and got my eyes lasered eventually the specialist told me the only reason I was able to play professional sport was because it happened at such a young age that my brain was able to adapt to see what I needed to see.

“I might have struggled with hurling and golf – which is probably why I’m such a brutal golfer.”

Lions winger shuts down business

England and British and Irish Lions star Jack Nowell has taken the decision to close down his business amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Nowell co-owns a pub, The Swordfish Inn, in Cornwall but given current government restrictions on pubs and restaurants, staying open was not a possibility.

"I had a call with my mates and co-owners of the Swordfish Inn back in Cornwall," he told the Daily Mail. "Rather than operate a takeaway service, we decided to close everything down. 

"It's a concerning time as a business owner, because you don't know how long this will last, but we're quite lucky that we've done reasonably well over the last year or so. We can look at it as a positive opportunity to paint it up just before the summer, which is our busiest time in Cornwall."