French give green light for return of Euro games

rugbY officials are pressing on with the next two rounds of the heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup after receiving travel exemptions from the French government. Following urgent negotiations between tournament chiefs EPCr, leagues, unions and governments, the decision has been taken to play rounds three and four of the pool stage. Last month, seven fixtures between French and uK teams were postponed after the government in Paris imposed tough new border controls in response to the surge in the Omicron variant. Exemption has been secured based on ‘the pursuit of an economic activity’, which will allow club personnel and match officials to engage in cross-Channel journeys to fulfil fixtures next weekend and the weekend after. EPCr is committed to ensuring the tournaments proceed to a conclusion on finals weekend in Marseille in May, with talks ongoing over how to reschedule postponed matches from round two. but with Covid continuing to disrupt league fixtures, clubs are sceptical about whether games will go ahead as planned. Welsh First Minister Mark drakeford has cast doubt on the wisdom of Wales’ home Six nations matches being moved to England — but emphasised it is the Welsh rugby union’s right to explore all options to protect their financial interests. As revealed by Sportsmail, the Wru are considering switching their clash with Scotland on February 12 from Cardiff’s Principality Stadium to London to beat crowd restrictions. drakeford said yesterday: ‘The decision about where to play matches are for the Welsh rugby union, not for the Welsh government. ‘Whether they will choose to play games elsewhere, with the undoubted risks that would bring, i think is a very debatable question.’