Laporte casts cloud over Six Nations

THE last thing we needed to start the New Year is more stories of pandemic-induced meltdowns, but unfortunately the road ahead for not only the 2021 Lions tour of South Africa, but also the imminent Six Nations tournament, is looking rocky.

At the same time as reports emerged that the Lions tour, scheduled to begin in late June, could be cancelled due to the more contagious strains of Covid identified in both South Africa and the UK, French rugby president Bernard Laporte dropped another bombshell by saying that the Six Nations is in jeopardy.

With the first round due to be played on February 6, Laporte spoke of a possible cancellation during an appearance on the French TV show Grande Gueules (Big Mouths) earlier this week. Alluding to the spike of 53,000 Covid cases in a 24-hour period in the UK, Laporte said: “If they close the borders for two months we won’t be able to play the Six Nations tournament.”

Laporte poured more fuel on the flames, saying: “The world of sport will not be able to last one more year (of the pandemic). It is not possible – not only in France, but throughout the world. There is going to be a collapse of the clubs.”

There have been suggestions already that delaying the Six Nations to late spring/early summer could make up for a cancellation of the Lions tour.

This is now under serious threat, with February seen as the cut-off date for a decision on the Lions, with the rampant spread of Covid in South Africa a key factor.

This is because the mass vaccine inoculation underway in the UK and Europe now is not likely to happen in the host nation until much later in the year.

Whether Laporte’s prophecy about the Six Nations being postponed comes to pass even sooner remains to be seen.