Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Six Nations in one land ‘better than cancelling’
EXETER Chiefs director and former Barbarians coach Rob Baxter believes that playing this season’s Six Nations in one country has “got to be better than cancelling it”.
The tournament is due to kick off in Dublin and in Edinburgh on February 5, but is shrouded in uncertainty.
Under current Welsh Government restrictions, Wales would have to play scheduled home games against Scotland, France and Italy behind closed doors.
The Scots would be in a similar position for games at Murrayfield if outdoor events remain restricted to 500 people, while it has been reported that Wales could consider moving their Principality Stadium fixtures against Scotland, France and Italy to England.
Scottish Rugby remains committed to staging home matches at Murrayfield, while First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that a revised strategic framework for dealing with Covid-19 will be published “within the next few weeks”.
Capacity crowds are currently allowed in England, provided spectators can prove full vaccination status or provide a negative lateral flow test.
Crowd restrictions of 5,000 currently apply in Ireland and France, while Italy has a Covid pass system in place after tightening restrictions last month. Ireland launch the 2022 Six Nations at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium against Wales, with France having home games on the opening two weekends, hosting Italy and then Ireland.
Against such a backdrop, playing the whole competition – it takes place across five weekends between early February and mid-March – in one country with permitted crowds has also been mooted.
Financial implications of behindclosed-doors home games for the Welsh Rugby Union would be significant.
They faced an identical situation for last season’s tournament, with the shutters being down for Cardiff clashes with Ireland and England.
Full crowds were, however, allowed at the Principality Stadium for Wales’ four Autumn Nations Series Tests this term, before fresh restrictions took effect from Boxing Day.
Baxter said: “The whole beauty of the Six Nations has been that change of environment. You’ve seen French teams in that one week they can beat anyone in the world in Paris and then the next week it doesn’t go quite so well in Cardiff. That’s the beauty of the tournament, that’s what from a rugby perspective I am sure we would all want to see happen.
“If the next best scenario is playing it in one country, where you can have sellout crowds, you can raise some revenue and you can keep that income stream going for all the bodies, then it’s got to be better than cancelling it. I think it’s revenue that is the biggest thing.”