URC teams downed by gastro bug, matches postponed

THE United Rugby Championship was yesterday rocked by the shock postponement of the Sharks v Ulster and Lions v Glasgow Warriors games because of a gastro epidemic in the ranks of the Ulster and Glasgow teams.

The teams from Belfast and Glasgow respectively have been based north of Durban to prepare for their round six games against local opposition but nearly all of the players in both squads have come down with illness.

The URC has not given a reason for the sudden epidemic but immediate speculation goes to the problems the greater Durban coast is experiencing because of sewerage infiltration into the seas from rivers.

This is an educated guess but how else do more than 50 players, who are staying in different hotels, all get sick?

All the URC could say on the matter was the following: “Due to gastroenteritis infections it is not possible for Ulster or Glasgow Warriors to field full playing squads.

“In order to ensure a duty of care towards the players involved and given the medical advice received from all key stakeholders, the United Rugby Championship has made the decision to postpone the fixtures.

“The league will now move to examine potential dates to reschedule the games and will update in due course.”

The postponement is a setback for the Sharks in particular as the Ulster game was marked for their annual SharkFest, and an afternoon and evening of family entertainment that was organised now has to be cancelled.

This was also one of the few games where the Sharks could field all of their Springboks and they now say farewell to those players who next week report to the Springbok training camp, so this is a setback for the Sharks.

Warriors played against the

Sharks last Saturday, a match they lost 40-12 while Ulster fought all the way to down the Emirates Lions 39-37.

The Sharks were on track to make a statement in the URC after blowing away the Warriors in the last quarter of last week’s match. The impact of the Boks in the second half was enormous, while Bok enforcer

Eben Etzebeth played 80 minutes of brutal rugby to win over the

Kings Park faithful in one almighty performance.

For the Ulster game, the Boks were all in the starting line-up and the pack alone would have boasted five current Boks.

JADEN HENDRICKS Gallo Images BOTH games, which were to take place on Saturday, were canned. |