Cold snap on Franco-British exchanges and red alert on the European Cup. Faced with the proliferation of positive cases for Covid-19 and following new restrictions on the borders between France and the United Kingdom, the EPCR, the organizer of the competition has decided to postpone all the meetings concerned. This is for the Champions Cup Bath – La Rochelle, Sale – Clermont, Scarlets – Bordeaux-Bègles, Stade Toulouse – Wasps and Stade Français – Bristol. For the European Challenge, Worcester – Biarritz and London Irish – Brive are postponed. It remains to be seen when since the organizers had warned that no date was free in the overloaded international calendar, any postponement was impossible.
This Covid version of the Champions Cup now seems seriously compromised. Especially since after the avalanche of positive cases among the British which had already forced the organizers to cancel a match, Bristol – Scarlets, during the first day, there were already two during this second day with Montpellier – Leinster , given to the Hérault residents due to the forfeit of the Irish and Racing – Ospreys, won by the Ile-de-France residents for the same reasons. The fairness of the competition was already badly damaged before the announcement of this decision.
The optimism still de rigueur this Friday morning has shattered. While the interministerial crisis unit had decided to issue exemptions for French clubs planning to travel to the United Kingdom this weekend despite the new border restrictions, the clubs concerned were however not very keen on the idea of ‘go and rub the Omicron variant. A meeting of the presidents this afternoon to record the new procedure.
