Paris (AFP)
The National Rugby League, organizer of the professional championships, and the broadcaster Canal Plus have modified the programming of the next days of Top 14 and Pro D2 according to curfews, according to the new schedule communicated Thursday.
Nine professional clubs are affected by this decision announced Wednesday by Emmanuel Macron, to deal with the "second wave" of Covid-19, and targeting the nine metropolises on "maximum alert".
These are five Top 14 teams (Lyon, Montpellier, Racing 92, Stade français, Toulouse) and four Pro D2 teams (Grenoble, Rouen, Colomiers, Provence).
The objective of the NRL is to avoid as much as possible the broadcast in "prime-time" of meetings taking place in territories affected by a curfew on Friday and Sunday.
For example, the Lyon-Bayonne match on the 5th day of Rugby Top 14 was brought forward from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday at the Gerland stadium, to allow the LOU to receive the public.
Another example: the Stade Français-Racing 92 match, counting for the sixth day, was brought forward to Saturday 24 October at 6.15 p.m. whereas it was scheduled for Sunday 25 October at 9 p.m.
"We thank the LNR and the benevolence of Canal Plus who agreed to change the date of the match. This allows us to accommodate 1,000 people and save substantial sums", commented to AFP the general manager of the Stade français Thomas Lombard.
The match between Stade Français and Stade Toulouse (Matchday 7) is held at 9:05 p.m. Sunday, November 1 and will therefore be played behind closed doors.
The LNR and Canal Plus also announced on Friday that the Toulon-Brive match, scheduled for November 6 at 9 p.m. and counting for the 8th day, will be broadcast in clear and live on the C8 channel in addition to the broadcast on Canal Plus Sport. .
This responds to a desire "to best expose the Top 14 and promote it to an increasingly large audience", explained Thierry Cheleman, director of sports for the Canal Plus group, quoted in a press release.
© 2020 AFP