French rugby is preparing to celebrate a convincing victory, in the health field rather than in sport this time. A meeting was held Monday, January 4 between the Medical Commission of the National Rugby League (LNR) and the European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), organizer of the European Cups, to discuss a toughening of the anti- Covid-19 currently implemented, deemed too lax by the doctors of the Top 14 clubs. They would have won their case with a modification of said protocol according to comments collected Monday by Agence France-Presse from concordant sources.
In a letter sent Sunday to the EPCR, French doctors called for an alignment of the European health protocol with that adopted in France, with a test three days before the meeting, against six currently at the continental level and in the United Kingdom, focus main contagion within clubs. “The English were at an impasse, they had to get out of it, even if it is difficult for them to admit that they were wrong”, estimates Bernard Dusfour, president of the medical commission of the LNR.
The incubation period of Covid-19, estimated at five days, would have allowed players across the Channel to take part in a match while being carriers of the virus.
The boycott option
The Basque club Rowing Bayonnais has already paid the price: nine players contracted the “English” strain of the virus following the reception of the English from Leicester on the second day of the Challenge Cup on December 19. Its president, Philippe Tayeb, denounced the situation of his club at the microphone of “Stage 2” on Sunday: “If we had applied the Top 14 protocol, maybe we would have been spared. It is a catastrophic situation. We were very careful for seven months and we were infected by a team that came to our soil. “
He threatened not to take part in the last two meetings scheduled for January 15 and 22 against Leicester and the Italians of the Zebra. “I am not crazier than anyone else, if the protocol evolves in terms of tests we will participate [aux matchs de Challenge Cup]. But I will ask that we go further by carrying out tests twenty-four hours before, for example ”, responded Philippe Tayeb at the microphone of France Bleu Pays basque Monday January 4.
Toulon also had to withdraw in December because of health risks during his trip to the Welsh Scarlets. Others said they were ready to follow the same method if the protocol did not change, or even to boycott European competitions.
“If we leave the European Cup, it will be a shortfall of 70 million euros for the clubs” (Jacky Lorenzetti, owner of Racing 92)
The repercussions are felt at the national level and impact the good performance of the Top 14. The match scheduled for Friday January 8 of Rowing against Toulon is compromised, which would constitute a third postponement in a row for the Basque club. Scheduled for the next day, the meeting between Clermont and the Section Pau, which announced Sunday that it had identified several contaminations last week, possibly with the “English” strain, and canceled all its training as a precaution, is also threatened.
A meeting is scheduled for Tuesday January 5 between the leaders of the Top 14 and the EPCR to clarify the future of European competitions. All do not seem to be on the same page. Jacky Lorenzetti, owner of Racing 92, denies any idea of a boycott in an interview with the Rugbyrama site. “Already, it should not be said that several club presidents want to boycott European competitions. This is wrong, I have never heard of it. (…) If we come out of the European Cup, it will be a shortfall of 70 million euros for the clubs, it’s huge. So, no, I’m not sure we can get out of our commitments like that ”, laments the businessman.
The issue of TV rights, at a time when clubs are financially suffering from the health crisis, is crucial. It partly explains the pressure exerted on the EPCR, to go to the end of the competition as best they can.
More than a question of boycott, it is the protection of the health of the players which is at the heart of the approach with the organizer of European competitions. The alarming health situation in the United Kingdom – the main focus of cases of transmission of Covid-19 to Top 14 players – has allowed the NRL and the clubs to make their cause legitimate and admissible.
Clement Aubry
