SHANE WILLIAMS
WALES AND LIONS LEGEND
FOR the Scarlets and Cardiff Rugby players to be stuck in South Africa is a hugely concerning and worrying situation for those involved and their families and friends.
This has all happened so quickly and it is all very scary. One minute the players will have been preparing for this weekend’s United Rugby Championship games and enjoying what South Africa has to offer as a country and then the next they’re trying to dash for the border. It is a nightmare.
I hope everyone is safe and well and, thankfully, that seems to be the case as far as I’m hearing. That is good news. But the update from Scarlets and Cardiff that they have the means of getting home on a plane but not the aviation clearance to enter the United Kingdom is a real concern.
The players and staff from both teams are now in limbo. There are so many questions about what happens next.
When will the two squads be able to fly home? What will their quarantine situation be when they do? How much is all this going to cost? What will be the impact on the rest of the season?
These are all posers we don’t have the answers to right now and this situation leaves the URC with a real problem. Let’s not forget, too, about Munster and Zebre who are also in South Africa right now.
If I’m honest, I was starting to think that the impact of Covid-19 on the sporting world was beginning to recede, but this is a stark reminder that is not the case. The pandemic doesn’t seem to be going away. You only have to watch the news to know there are still positive cases, but after the Autumn Internationals where we had big crowds at places like Principality Stadium, Twickenham and Murrayfield, it did feel like something of a corner had been turned.
Maybe it was naïve of me to think that, but like everyone I am trying to be positive and see the back of this awful pandemic.
So, what next for the URC? Initially, the competition had planned for the first block of home games involving the new South African teams to be played in Italy. They then switched that back to South Africa.
In hindsight, that looks a very, very bad decision but in my view, it is difficult to be too critical because if you are going to have a true crossborder competition, the travel has to be fair and equal between all the sides competing. We can’t just expect the South African sides to come to Europe all the time.
The real issue, of course, is that a tournament involving teams from the two different hemispheres taking place in an ongoing global pandemic is not a good mix.
It is an unfortunate reality that other teams will now be reticent to go to South Africa for fear of a repeat scenario from the one we’ve seen this weekend.
From seeing some of the activity of the Welsh players out in South Africa on Instagram, it’s clear they have been out and about, going to coffee shops, and exploring their surroundings. They are, of course, not doing anything wrong legally by acting in that way. But it must also raise concerns about bringing this new variant of Covid-19 back to the United Kingdom.
If the scientists are correct and this variant is more resistant to the vaccine programme we have implemented in the UK, then we have a real problem on our hands. If I put myself in the shoes of the players out in South Africa now, my fear would be bringing Covid-19 back to my friends and family.
The closest thing in my career that I can think of that compares to all this is the foot-and-mouth disease of 2001 which caused the Six Nations to be moved although the two are chalk and cheese really. Covid-19 is far more serious.
The URC has a lot of work to do now. It will have to analyse whether travel to South Africa can continue. My hunch is it won’t, not for the time being at least.
I hope the tournament will help out in terms of all the costs that are being accrued because of this. It sounds quite crude to be talking about money when the focus is on the wellbeing of the players and staff. But we all know that in Welsh rugby we are not awash with cash. The cost of quarantine is going to be huge for the Scarlets and Cardiff because staying in hotels doesn’t come cheap. There will also be significant money involved in charter planes home when possible.
Both teams will get back at some point of course, but the rest of the season will be impacted. There is no doubt about that.
European Rugby will be monitoring this because the Scarlets’ and Cardiff games in the Champions Cup now have to be considered in doubt. The two teams are very unlikely to be able to make it back from South Africa in time to quarantine at home. That means they will have to do it in a hotel.
“Get your act together, URC.. we need to hear from chief exec Martin Anayi on this and quickly”
They won’t be able to train for a long period and it could throw their respective seasons into total chaos through absolutely no fault of their own. So come on URC, get your act together and help out your teams.
We need to hear from the chief executive Martin Anayi on this and quickly.
I feel it is important that there is transparency on what the next steps are for the rest of the URC season even though I understand things are moving at such a fast pace that the situation is changing constantly. It must be a nightmare to be involved in from an administrative situation.
But, those in power are there for a reason and they owe it to the players and staff stuck in South Africa to try and resolve a tricky situation as best as possible.
I know there is frustration among the two Welsh sides in South Africa right now. Whatever you think about professional sports stars, they are still normal people and like anyone, will be concerned for their welfare and that of those around them. They will be missing their friends and family at home but the stark reality is that they don’t know when they will see them next or return to Wales.
We talk a lot about mental health these days, rightly, and I have concerns over how those in South Africa are feeling.
