Scarlets chairman Simon Muderack urges Heineken Champions Cup bosses to allow rescheduling
- Published
Scarlets were due to play two United Rugby Championship matches in South Africa but they were postponed
Scarlets chairman Simon Muderack has called on European tournament organisers to reconsider their position on rescheduling matches.
Scarlets are due to play their opening Heineken Champions Cup tie at Bristol on 11 December and would forfeit the game if they do not play on that date.
That is a day after Scarlets end 10-days quarantine in Belfast, with Covid-19 curtailing a trip to South Africa.
Meanwhile Ospreys are "willing to help out" Scarlets with loan players.
The Scarlets players who travelled to South Africa to play fixtures in the United Rugby Championship (URC) are not expected to be available to face Bristol because they will not have trained for two weeks.
The region currently have 14 fit players available for the Bristol fixture - seven members of the senior squad and seven on development contracts.
They would need to find nine additional players, mainly from the academy and semi-professional clubs, to field a match-day 23.
European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), who run the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, say there are no spare weekends available to reschedule matches.
They have though given clubs special dispensation to register new players in order to fulfil their matches later this month.
Munster and Zebre have also been forced into mandatory quarantine after travelling back from South Africa.
Tournament organisers have confirmed a registration extension to Wednesday 8 December, meaning clubs can now look to bring extra players in on loan.
Rivals happy to help
Ospreys 'willing to help out' Scarlets with Euro loan players
Ospreys head coach Toby Booth said they had been contacted by Scarlets asking if they had any players available.
"They've asked for seven or eight," said Booth.
"We're willing to help out because it's important we see the bigger picture here.
"It will suit us giving people opportunities to play in a prestigious game."
Booth added: "The boundaries are certainly softer when you have to contingency plan to that extreme, so it's about getting everyone in the tent together, helping each other out and looking after each other.
"Obviously we need to get player approval and EPCR need to agree around people not being cup-tied by playing, but hopefully common sense prevails and we can keep people playing."
Dragons have also held talks but their director of rugby Dean Ryan does not think they have enough senior players to loan out.
"We haven't got players who that's potentially appropriate for. We are in conversations," he said.
"We've still got to play ourselves. We're probably the smallest-resourced region and therefore is it appropriate that some of the people in the wings for us are playing either Bristol [for Scarlets] or Toulouse [for Cardiff]?
"Those conversations are ongoing and it is important because I remember playing away in Bordeaux with a lot of academy lads in for us and there is a balancing act between getting experiences and being safe at that level.
"The Champions Cup is a huge tournament and that's something else administrators need to factor in - what is appropriate and safe.
"By all means, we're here holding conversations with those who we can help but we need to put that in perspective.
"We've got to fulfil our own fixtures and we're struggling to do that at the moment, factoring in some of the problems we've got."
Champions Cup competition regulations state that if the Scarlets were unable to fulfil their round one fixture, it would result in the game being forfeited, a 28-0 result declared and five match points allocated to Bristol.
Player welfare concerns
"If we were to play Bristol without the people who are in Ulster right now there are four or five positions where we physically do not have a body to fill that position," said Muderack.
"We are not coming out of quarantine until 10 December and a lot of these boys in Belfast haven't played a game of rugby since 22 October. EPCR has got to look at player welfare here.
"Without the 32 players in quarantine, we'd have to play development players and academy players - some of them just out of school in their first season of senior rugby - as well as semi-pro players, who juggle their rugby commitments with full-time work, and put them up against a quality side like Bristol.
"That wouldn't be good for the integrity of the competition or those individuals. None of us had any idea that this situation was going to occur, and that South Africa was going to be put on the red list.
"The URC is a new league and what we are trying to do is support the league's aspirations by sending our very best available team to South Africa to perform as best as we can. That's us doing the right thing by the league and rugby.
"For us to get penalised doesn't sit well and we need to find a fair solution because forfeiting the game for something that was out of our control isn't right."
Cardiff have indicated they will try to play their opening two European matches without the 32 players who travelled to South Africa. They are in a better position because they left six Wales internationals at home.
Scarlets decided to take a full-strength squad to South Africa to help prepare for the games at Bristol and at home to Bordeaux on 19 December.
"Ideally we would have been granted a sporting exemption which has been done in the past so that the team, while remaining in isolation, could have continued to train and prepare for upcoming fixtures.
"The best the players can do in their hotel in Belfast is exercise as individuals within the confines of their own rooms as well as being allowed a short time slot outside to walk around in the car park.
"That is no preparation for a high-intensity game of European rugby. In our world, physical capacity is everything, if players are 'under done' it can be catastrophic for careers and have a direct increase to injury risk.
"The Scarlets have a proud history in European competition and we have been looking forward to testing ourselves against Bristol and Bordeaux.
"It is hugely disappointing we will not be allowed to do that on a level playing field."
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