English clubs wait on quarantine waiver before committing to European fixtures in France
- Published
Sale beat Welsh side Ospreys away in their only Champions Cup game so far this season
English clubs hope to get dispensation on quarantine rules before they commit to playing in France this weekend.
Bath and Sale play La Rochelle and Clermont respectively in the Champions Cup, with Newcastle at Biarritz in one of Friday's Challenge Cup games.
But all three clubs have expressed concerns about the 48-hour quarantine requirements on arrival in France.
Tournament organisers are in talks with French authorities, with more news expected in the next 24 hours.
The French Sports Ministry will attempt to get the two-day quarantine requirement lifted for English teams at a governmental meeting on Tuesday. Welsh side Scarlets are in a similar situation ahead of their trip to Bordeaux.
"The Ministry of Sports is arguing that the bubble and the reinforced health protocol around the teams once on French territory allows for this mandatory isolation to be lifted," it said in a statement to Reuters.
France recently loosened its strict travel ban on visitors from the UK, but still requires all travellers to self-isolate for 48 hours, after .which a negative PCR or antigen test is required to exit self-isolation.
The current rules mean Bath, Sale and Newcastle would not only need to spend two days in France prior to the match, but they would also risk players being stranded in France for an additional 10 days if they were to test positive or show up as a false positive on a PCR test.
"The last hoop to jump through is this need to go and test over there 48 hours before the game and if you test positive on a PCR - and bear in mind that, if you have had Covid you can test positive for up to 90 days after - you're trapped in France," Sale boss Alex Sanderson told the Rugby Union Weekly podcast.
"In today's environment, there are going to be two or three or four players from each club who, if they are tested right now, test positive on a PCR for those reasons I've said, because they have had it in the last 90 days - it's rife.
"So I think it's over the protection of the players, [and] to be able to play the week after and in the Premiership the week after that, that we hopefully get some influence to make sure we don't have to PCR test out there, or jump through any more hoops.
"The French wouldn't have to if they came over here, [so we hope it's] more of a level playing field in terms of preparation for these games."
All UK-French matches in round two were postponed in December because of the French government's travel restrictions, and any more postponements and cancellations would throw the tournament into a further state of chaos.
"A week ago, we couldn't get our Schengen visas, external through, so they've moved heaven and earth, really, to try and get this competition on to open up the borders and so we can travel for 'economic reasons'," Sanderson added.
"And they pushed the visas through, so all that's brilliant, it means we can take a squad. It's just whether we can come back home with a squad at the moment.
"Fifteen of our lads all tested positive over Christmas or before, hence why we had to miss the Newcastle game [on Boxing Day], so all of those lads would potentially have to stay out there."
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