Part-time clubs told they don’t have to make Toulouse trip
WIDNES Vikings will not have to travel to Championship rivals Toulouse Olympique while current Government quarantine regulations remain in place.
Vikings coach Simon Finnigan said recently that he would not pressure any of his players into making the journey to France, given the fact those returning would be required to isolate for at least five days once back in England.
Finnigan said he was aware how that could impact on the careers of his part-time players.
Now, the RFL has confirmed part-time teams in the division will not be required to fulfil away game against Toulouse while the regulations remain in place.
Vikings had been scheduled to make the journey on May 8th.
The RFL and Championship clubs have already agreed positions in the league table will be determined on Win Points Percentage in 2021, to allow for the possibility of postponed fixtures, with only two match slots available for rearranged fixtures – on the weekend of the semi finals of the Betfred Challenge Cup and AB Sundecks 1895 Cup in June, and on the Monday following the finals of those competitions at Wembley on July 17.
The Board has ruled that the priority for rearranging postponed Toulouse fixtures in those available slots should be the teams who were only scheduled to play a single away fixture against the French club following the reduction in the fixture list as a result of the delayed start to the season – Widnes and
Swinton Lions.
If the progress of Widnes and Swinton in either the Challenge Cup or the 1895 Cup means they cannot rearrange league fixtures for the two available match slots, Toulouse will be required to travel to play the fixtures in England.
With clubs required to have played in 70% of their scheduled fixtures to be eligible for the top six play-offs, the Board have also ruled that Toulouse matches postponed as a result of the current quarantine regulations will not count as postponed for either Toulouse or their opponents – so that neither are penalised for circumstances beyond their control.
In making this decision, the Board noted that under French Government regulations, Toulouse’s players are subject to a seven-day quarantine period following any trip to the UK, making it unreasonable to require them to play any more away matches.
The RFL Board said: “We appreciate this is a complex issue, and that the landscape regarding international travel is likely to evolve further over the coming weeks and months; however, it has reached the decision having weighed up the competing factors and believes that it is in the overall interests of the competition.”