OSPREYS READY TO HELP OUT SCARLETS
THE Ospreys are willing to lend the Scarlets players if the west Walians’ Heineken Champions Cup clash against Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate goes ahead on Saturday week.
Thirty-two Scarlets players are in a 10-day quarantine situation just outside Belfast after returning from South Africa amid the emergence of the Omicron Covid variant.
With personnel not due to emerge from quarantine until December 10 – just a day before their big European opener – the Scarlets are calling on European tournament organisers EPCR to reconsider their position on the rescheduling of matches, but they have also sounded out their neighbours for potential help if the game is played a week tomorrow.
“We’ve received an email this week from the Scarlets enquiring whether we have players to help them in terms of availability for the Champions
Cup,” Ospreys head coach Toby Booth told a press conference yesterday.
“They’ve asked for seven or eight players. We are willing to help out because it’s important we see the bigger picture here.
“It will suit us in terms of giving people an opportunity to play in a prestigious game.
“The boundaries are softer when you have to effectively contingency plan to that extreme. It’s about getting everyone in the tent together if you can and helping each other out and looking after each other.”
The Scarlets are in an exceptionally difficult situation. They have not played as a region since October 22 and the quarantined players can only exercise within the confines of their own rooms as well as being allowed a short time slot to walk around in the hotel car park.
Their position is exacerbated by the region having taken a virtually fullstrength squad to South Africa.
They have 14 fit players at home, but seven of those are development personnel and the Scarlets reckon there are up to five positions where they physically don’t have bodies to fill positions without seeking reinforcements from neighbours, their academy or semi-professional clubs.
EPCR have said games will not be rearranged and any team failing to fulfil a fixture will incur a 28-0 walkover defeat.
Rather than have to play development and academy players and borrow personnel, or use players who have been stuck in hotel rooms for the previous 10 days, the Scarlets want EPCR to come up with what they call a “fair solution” which doesn’t involve them incurring a forfeit.
Cardiff, meanwhile, have well-documented problems of their own that EPCR will also be keeping an eye on as they try to travel to the UK from South Africa after six positive Covid cases in camp. The capital city region did not head for South Africa with Wales stars such as Josh Adams, Tomos Williams and Seb Davies, so haven’t sent any SOS call the way of the Ospreys.
“We have not currently heard from Cardiff,” Booth said.
“But we’ve received an email [from the Scarlets] asking for [help in] a number of different positions.
“The good thing for us, I think, is that we can help them out.
“We need to get player approval and EPCR need to [rule on] people not being cup-tied by playing and that sort of stuff.
“Hopefully, common sense prevails.”
If required, the Swansea.com Stadium region would be likely to assist their neighbours with some of the youngsters who featured in the Ospreys A side’s win over a Scarlets Development team recently.
Asked whether the Ospreys would head out to South Africa to play United Rugby Championship games, Booth said it would depend on what the situation was at the time.
“We don’t go there for a while,” he added. “Everyone’s aware of the new variant and what the different protocols are. We’re learning on a daily basis what we can and can’t do and what the repercussions are.
“The most important thing is the safety of people. Whether they are from Cardiff, Scarlets, Ospreys, Munster, it’s the same.”