WRU chairman breaks silence to explain late decision to postpone Wales vs Scotland
Welsh Rugby Union chairman Gareth Davies has explained how the nationwide postponement of football fixtures prompted a U-turn on Wales’ Guinness Six Nations clash against Scotland going ahead.
The WRU insisted on Friday morning that Saturday’s game in Cardiff would be played before a 74,500-capacity Principality Stadium crowd despite the coronavirus outbreak. But less than five hours later, the WRU called the game off with Davies saying that the governing body had found themselves “probably the lightning rod for the virus, and for the publicity”.
Gregor Townsend insists no Scotland player has contracted coronavirus
“It’s been a tough week,” said Davies, who told BBC Radio Wales that the WRU had given the go-ahead to the game being played at an emergency board meeting on Thursday night.
“We obviously followed the advice of the central government, Welsh government in terms of the scientific and medical evidence and that was the case until last night (Thursday) when we met to consider everything.
“We still thought that bearing in mind the advice that was the way to go. The Premier League, for example, were carrying on but that had changed for maybe obvious reasons.
“The English Football League went on a similar course, as did the Celtic-Rangers game, so we found ourselves probably the lightning rod for the virus and for the publicity. We spoke to the government this morning who totally understood our position.”
An earlier WRU statement, announcing the postponement of the fixture, said “every effort has been made to stage this game” and that the governing body “appreciates that individuals will have been inconvenienced”.
The WRU added that further announcements with respect to rescheduling the fixture would be made “in the coming days”.
It becomes the fourth game to be postponed in this season’s Six Nations. Ireland’s games against Italy and France had already been called off, in addition to England’s appointment with Italy in Rome. No dates for rearranged games have yet been announced, although late October is thought to be an option.
The Scotland squad, meanwhile, had arrived in Cardiff and trained at the Principality Stadium on Friday. A Scottish Rugby spokesperson said: “Scottish Rugby has acknowledged the decision of the WRU to postpone tomorrow’s Guinness Six Nations match in Cardiff.
“While it is disappointing the fixture could not go ahead, there are clearly wider public safety issues unfolding at this unprecedented time. We support the WRU in the difficult decision they have had to make and will continue to have a strong relationship with them going forward.
'It was an honour for me to play for Scotland, but it wasn’t how it should be, you could just tell.'
– @danparks10 on Scotland, being booed at Murrayfield, Six Nations, Thom Evans neck-break, Finn and much, much more #WALvSCO; with @JLyall93 https://t.co/kSmFVdF7Bo
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 13, 2020
“All the Scotland players and management team would like to pass on their thanks to the Scotland fans who were aiming to attend the match and share their disappointment this game now will not be played. The team will aim to return to Scotland at the earliest opportunity.”
Had the game gone ahead, Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones would have equalled the world record held by New Zealand’s World Cup-winning skipper Richie McCaw of 148 Test match appearances. But that feat will now be put on hold probably until the summer when Wales play Tests against New Zealand in Auckland and Wellington.
The WRU, meanwhile, said that Friday night’s Six Nations U20 game between Wales and Scotland in Colwyn Bay will be played behind closed doors. A decision on whether lower-level rugby in Wales will continue will be made at a WRU community game board meeting on Saturday.
– Press Association
WATCH: This is what happened when RugbyPass drove Shane Williams around the capital of Wales
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to comments