Toulon pull out of Scarlets Heineken Champions Cup tie over Covid-19 case at Welsh club

Parc y Scarlets hosted Wales' four home autumn international matches

Scarlets' Heineken Champions Cup match at home to Toulon on Friday has been called off less than two hours before kick-off.

Toulon pulled out because of concerns about a Scarlets player testing positive for Covid-19 after playing against Bath last weekend.

The Welsh side withdrew the player and his close contacts from training before naming their side to face Toulon.

The action satisfied European rugby organisers but not Toulon's management.

The French club's decision to pull out came as a shock to the home side, who arrived at their Parc y Scarlets home as normal about two hours before the scheduled 17:30 GMT kick-off on Friday.

Bath's match with La Rochelle was called off because the English club said they had 12 players self-isolating after being in close contact with the Scarlets player last weekend.

It is understood European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) and Scarlets offered Toulon a postponement until Sunday to allow the hosts' squad to be retested for coronavirus.

A Toulon statement on Friday said the French club learned of Scarlets' situation on Thursday, adding that they are "aware of the serious consequences" of deciding not to play.

Head coach Glenn Delaney with Scarlets players at Parc y Scarlets after Toulon pulled out of the Heineken Champions Cup fixture

"Despite this eminently delicate context, the EPCR, with the approval of the Welsh Rugby Union, wished to maintain the Scarlets v Toulon match," the statement said.

"[Toulon] president Bernard Lemaitre spoke extensively with EPCR director general Vincent Gaillard. "He specified that the sanitary conditions were not met to maintain the organisation of this meeting the health of the players of the staff and their families being paramount.

"The EPCR nevertheless upheld its decision. Faced with this state of affairs, the Rugby Club Toulonnais, although aware of the serious consequences, decided not to play this meeting as planned this evening."

An EPCR statement read: "A medical risk assessment committee was convened earlier today to consider any potential issues in relation to Scarlets' testing and tracing, and it was satisfied that the risk of further transmission had been contained before recommending that the match could go ahead safely.

"On learning of RC Toulon's concerns regarding the fixture, it was suggested that the match could be postponed to a later date in the weekend to allow any of the club's players to opt out of the match if they wished to do so.

"It was also suggested that RC Toulon could source willing players from their existing tournament squad to replace those who had withdrawn and that the Scarlets matchday squad could undergo additional EPCR testing.

"These offers were rejected by RC Toulon and EPCR can therefore confirm that the match is postponed."

An EPCR match result resolution committee will now determine the outcome of the game when it is officially cancelled.

Sides in this year's tournament agreed to forfeit matches if fixtures could not be fulfilled due to Covid-19 with the winner granted a 28-0 victory.

A Scarlets statement read: "We would like to express their disappointment that today's Heineken Champions Cup match against RC Toulon did not go ahead.

"The Scarlets have adhered to all tournament and Public Health Wales procedures following the positive Covid-19 case that emerged after this week's round of testing.

"The player who tested positive and a small number of close contacts that were identified have been isolating in accordance with public health guidelines.

"Our medical staff went through the full procedures stringently. Those procedures were then reviewed by an independent body. Subsequently, EPCR were happy for the match to be played.

"Toulon arrived at Parc y Scarlets on Friday morning for a 'walk through' and there was no indication to us that they did not want to play.

"Our players and coaching team were prepared for what should have been a great game of European rugby at Parc y Scarlets.

"We extended the option to Toulon to play the match on Sunday and for us to undergo another round of Covid tests before the match. We would like to thank our players and all our staff for the professionalism they have shown."

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