Cancel games and award non-French sides 28-0 wins - Andy Goode
Europe may be going full steam ahead but we need a decision on the postponed games now and I can see the French teams losing out.
There just isn’t a spare weekend in the calendar for the five Champions Cup games postponed in Round 2 to be replayed and nobody should be entertaining the possibility of staging them during the Six Nations.
Can you imagine Wasps facing Toulouse’s second team or Scarlets without their Welsh stars taking on Bordeaux without Matthieu Jalibert and co? It’d make a mockery of Europe’s premier club competition.
Instead, I think they should be cancelled with the matches awarded to the non-French sides on a 28-0, five match points basis. It is regrettable as the games weren’t able to be played because of the French government rather than the clubs but their opponents shouldn’t be punished.
Whenever a match has been called off in the past and a 28-0 scoreline attributed to one team, EPCR have insisted that it isn’t about apportioning blame and that it is a “tournament management measure” with the objective of ensuring that all fixtures are accounted for. This is no different.
Indeed, Bristol were handed the points when their game with the Scarlets was cancelled in Round 1 but that was largely a travel related issue with the Welsh region forced to quarantine following their abandoned trip to South Africa.
There are likely to be more games called off in the next couple of rounds, so the option of just replaying any postponed matches on the weekend of April 8/9/10 and not having a two-legged Round of 16 wouldn’t work for me.
That would mean some teams might end up with two postponed games to fit in and other teams would be in limbo not knowing whether they’ve qualified until April.
Getting rid of the Round of 16 entirely and replaying any games on those two weekends in April before going straight through to the quarter-final stage in May is an option but I can’t see that being the preferred one for EPCR as they would lose out on the excitement of the extended knockout stage.
It’s great news that exemptions for the “pursuit of an economic activity” have been put in place following discussions with the French government but now we need strong leadership and to know where we stand as far as the rest of the tournament is concerned ahead of Round 3.
Awarding five match points to the non-French clubs in the postponed Round 2 games may not seem fair but the French sides weren’t able to fulfil the fixtures and the rules are in place for when that is the case.
The discussions with the French government have reportedly also resulted in an exemption that would allow any unvaccinated players to still take part in the competition, although new rules being considered by the UK government could make that a non-starter.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries apparently wants to end the exemption allowing unjabbed elite sportsmen to break the self-isolation period to attend training or compete at events when returning to the UK from abroad.
Obviously we want to see all of the top stars able to play in Europe’s top club competition and that means looking at these rules as well as not playing games during the Six Nations but this week has taught us that you have to be careful when handing out exemptions in sport that don’t apply to the general public.
Novak Djokovic didn’t fare too well in Australia and I think it’s perfectly fair to say if you haven’t been vaccinated, you can’t play in the Champions Cup.
The games in France may be going ahead this month but we aren’t going to see full stadiums, with rules there restricting attendances to 5,000 outside and 2,000 inside, and that is a major concern moving forwards.
We all know how much rugby suffered, both financially and as an overall product, without fans at games and everybody should be doing everything in their power to ensure we don’t return to the days of playing behind closed doors.
The French government are set to review their restrictions ahead of the Six Nations and there are hopes that the rules in Scotland, where there is currently a cap of 500 on attendances at outdoor events, will have changed by then as well.
However, the word coming out of Wales isn’t as positive and you only have to look at Dan Biggar’s comments or Louis Rees-Zammit’s recent tweet and some of the other players who have supported it to know what the players think.
There will be significant logistical challenges but if there are restrictions still in place in Wales or Scotland, in particular, those unions should absolutely look at staging their home fixtures at the likes of St James’ Park, the Coventry Building Society Arena, Twickenham, Wembley or anywhere else.
There are a lot of decisions to be taken and not much time left to take them in so it’s going to be an interesting couple of weeks ahead but let’s start with the Champions Cup and hope for some more clarity in the coming days so everyone knows where they stand.
Comments on RugbyPass
I bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments