Warning for Vikings over French fixture

WIDNES Vikings and other Championship clubs have been warned they face an “immense challenge” in fulfilling away fixtures with Toulouse following a tightening of quarantine restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite announcing a road map towards lifting the lockdown, the Government confirmed that elite athletes will now have to follow the general public in quarantining for 10 days on returning from abroad and can only leave home when entering their team “bubble”.

Under a test-to-release scheme, people can pay for a private Covid-19 test and end their quarantine if the result is negative but tests cannot be undertaken until they have been back in England for five full days.

This will affect the Championship – including Widnes Vikings – more than the Super League because it comprises around 70% of part-time players who will need to seek time off from their regular employers.

“I think it will be a really tough situation,” said York coach James Ford. “I used to be a teacher and getting a couple of days off to go to Toronto or Toulouse during the year wasn’t ideal but the college worked around it.

“Going back in the play-offs at short notice was a challenge and, if I’m perfectly honest, I wouldn’t fancy going in to ask for 10 days off because we’re going to Toulouse.

“Multiply that by 25 players who are going and it will be an immense challenge.

“I think you’d need to find a sharper mind than mine to find some ways around it and appease everybody.”

Toulouse have chosen not to take part in the Challenge Cup, which gets the season under way in March, and have only one home game before May – London Broncos are due to visit on the weekend of April 18 – by which time it is hoped the regulations may be reviewed.

The Rugby Football League has already announced that league positions will be determined by points percentage, as was the case in Super League in 2020, to recognise the likelihood of fixtures being affected by

Covid-19.

Postponements will be permitted if a team loses seven or more players for Covid-related reasons and, if matches cannot be rearranged, they will be cancelled. That, according to Ford, could skew the season and even affect promotion to Super League.