SCARLETS IN FRESH CALL OVER FIXTURE
SCARLETS chairman Simon Muderack has urged European rugby chiefs to look into the possibility of rescheduling the forfeited fixture at Bristol.
Bristol were handed a 28-0 win after the Scarlets were forced to quarantine following their abandoned trip to South Africa.
French travel rules have since seen a number of European fixtures postponed last weekend, with authorities subsequently planning to reschedule those matches.
And Muderack believes there is now already a precedent for rearranging the Bristol clash.
“Let’s now try to find a way to play that (Bristol) fixture,” he told the BBC.
“With the raft of fixtures that have been cancelled this weekend, I’d like to think now we could all take a step back and get creative.
“A lot could happen. I’d like to think this does reopen the conversation around how we can look at the tournament holistically.
“Clearly I’ll be bitterly disappointed now if there’s not some form of accommodation in terms of the cancelled fixture against Bristol.
“Hypothetically, for example, we’ve got two weekends that are allocated to the final 16,” he added.
“There could be an argument that we should allow two cancelled rounds or postponed rounds of games to be played over those weekends and maybe go into a final eight.
“That’s easy for me to say, but I think, you know, we need to get creative.”
Former Wales wing Shane Williams believes the Welsh sides have been “shafted” by European rugby this season.
The Champions Cup has descended into chaos thanks to the rise in Covid cases, with the Scarlets seeing both of their fixtures called off, while the Ospreys’ trip to Racing 92 last weekend also bit the dust.
Cardiff have managed to fulfil their fixtures with a scratch side, but it’s the inconsistencies of European rugby bosses that will leave many in Wales feeling hard done by.
Writing in his Rugby Paper column, Amman Valley legend Williams said: “European rugby is in chaos and it’s hard to escape the feeling that the Welsh sides have had the rough end of the stick in the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup.
“Three of the Welsh regions – Cardiff, Ospreys and Scarlets – have been shafted by the decision making of European rugby bosses. It’s all an absolute mess.”
Calling the decision not to allow
the Scarlets to reschedule first-round clash with Bristol before allowing a blanket rescheduling for fixtures involving French sides in the second “double standards”, Williams added: “How can that be fair?
“The perception is that they are making it all up as they go along.
“It all makes rugby look very, very amateur.”