TOULON NEED TO EMBRACE REALITY
BEST laid plans and all that. The scene was set for a blockbuster evening of entertainment at the RDS yesterday. The hosts – fresh from an emphatic victory over Munster in the Pro14 final – were primed for the visit of Toulon.
They are not the force of old, but they arrived in the capital with a star-studded squad featuring Eben Etzebeth, Charles Ollivon, Baptiste Serin and Gabin Villiere.
It was all set to be an entertaining night of European rugby, the perfect curtain-raiser for a thrilling weekend of action.
Then, reports from France signalled that an unnamed player in Toulon’s ranks had tested positive for Covid-19. Things moved pretty quickly, with confirmation soon arriving that the game had been called off.
A few hours later, EPCR – the tournament organisers – confirmed a walkover for Leinster, in keeping with the rules set out prior to this competition.
Unsurprisingly, Toulon were up in arms about the outcome yesterday. Mourad Boudjellal’s reign as the club’s big-money backer ended a few years ago, but his successor Bernard Lemaitre is clearly not shy about airing his views either.
‘It’s disgusting,’ Lemaitre told Midi Olympique.
‘The player tested positive on Wednesday and immediately isolated. EPCR was immediately informed, but they let us go to Dublin (on Thursday), for more than 24 hours.
‘And despite a total negative re-test of the players last night (Thursday) at 8pm, these people made this decision less than five hours before the match.’
EPCR fired back quickly in a statement of their own, citing the decision of their medical and match resolution teams, while also hammering home the point that they do not order or halt teams from travelling.
It all got a bit a messy really. A stark reminder that these cross-border competitions are a house of cards. It can fall apart pretty quickly.
Lest we forget, it was Toulon who pulled out of their pool game against Scarlets in December just two hours before kick-off when it emerged that one of the Welsh players had tested positive for Covid-19 following their game against Bath the previous weekend.
As is the protocols with all clubs, the player and all close contacts were immediately removed from the camp before a round of re-testing.
EPCR felt everything was above board. Toulon felt differently and told their squad to get out of Dodge. The Welshmen got the points.
There followed a string of outbreaks and subsequent cancellations. Glasgow’s game with Lyon was canned. La Rochellle v Bath suffered the same fate. Toulouse v Exeter would became the fourth match to get the red card.
Soon the French Government was getting involved and, having directed their clubs to not travel abroad for the third and fourth rounds, EPCR made the decision to cancel those fixtures altogether. It’s the reason why we’re heading into a last-16 format this weekend, an unprecedented move in the tournament’s 25-year history.
There has been an element of compromise throughout all of this. There has perhaps been an element of naivety about the logistics involved in pulling this off as well. The Six Nations – barring some well-publicised Covidiocy in the French camp – went relatively smoothly.
There was plenty of crossborder travel involved over the course of that eight-week tournament. Having all the camps in bio-secure bubbles was crucial, however. There was enormous buy-in from players, backroom staff and administrators to keep the show on the road.
It’s not a long-term fix though. International camps are short and sharp stints. It just couldn’t work at club level. Players go back to their homes every evening, squads are bigger and there are so many more moving parts.
There are far more teams as well. There are 32 involved across both competitions this weekend. That’s a lot of potential close contacts and plenty of commuting to boot. There was no shortage of finger pointing yesterday but the reality is that best-laid plans can quickly be torn asunder by this virus.
It doesn’t respect protocols, borders or schedules. No person, organisation or state is immune.
Toulon are understandably annoyed at their situation. Bringing a squad to Dublin isn’t cheap. Nor is regular squad testing. Predictably, Leinster were awarded the walkover yesterday; them’s the rules. Leo Cullen’s squad are now set for an away trip to face the winners of Exeter v Lyon today.
As with everything at the moment, there is an asterisk attached. There could very well be an outbreak in either of those camps and the same goes for any potential quarter-final. It’s the same story everywhere else.
Toulon have already made noises about boycotting future European Cups, given their alleged mistreatment yesterday. Perhaps their outspoken president and others at the club might engage in a little perspective?
There is nothing fair about the current situation. Covid-19 is what happens when you’re making other plans.