Four rugby clubs, two Welsh, one Italian and one Irish, were in South Africa to compete against South African teams in Matchday 6 of the United Rugby Championship (URC), when a Department of Health press conference triggered a movement of panic among the sportsmen.

"The situation in South Africa having changed so rapidly, we are now seeking to repatriate our staff as soon as possible. For families and friends concerned, please rest assured that our goal is to ensure the safety and well-being of our staff. and that we will keep you informed of developments, "tweeted the Cardiff club.

The other Welsh club, the Scarlets, sent a similar post.

The club of the Irish province of Munster, for its part, assured to be "in safety and in good health", while working "with the organizers of the RCU on the current situation".

The four matches scheduled for this weekend in South Africa on behalf of the 6th day of the RCU, the championship between Welsh, Irish, Italian, Scottish and South African teams, have been postponed.

The Italians of the Zebra against the Stormers (Cape Town), the Welsh of the Scarlets against the Sharks (Durban), the Irish of Munster in front of the Bulls (Pretoria) and the Welsh of Cardiff against the Lions (Johannesburg).

Those of the following week as well.

"The safety and well-being of the players, coaches, support staff and officials of our participating clubs is the top priority and the RCU is currently working with the four visiting clubs - Cardiff Rugby, Munster Rugby, Scarlets and Zebre Parma - to facilitate their return as soon as possible, "the RCU said in a statement.

"This decision is based on the latest recommendations against non-essential travel to and from South Africa, the ban on direct flights to the UK and other origin destinations and the potential hotel quarantines imposed. to those returning from South Africa ", adds the authority.

Cricket test match

The new variant, dubbed B.1.1.529, has an "extremely high" number of mutations and "we can see that it has a potential for very rapid spread," virologist Tulio de Oliveira told a conference online news outlet led by the South African Department of Health.

The statement also prompted some 15 British and Irish players to immediately forfeit the rest of the Johannesburg Open, counting towards the European golf circuit, which started on Thursday.

Their goal, revealed the specialized site Golf Planète, was then to leave the country as quickly as possible before the borders were closed by the British authorities and flights to London were canceled.

Cricket could also be concerned with a test match between South Africa and the Netherlands, scheduled for Friday, the holding of which has not yet been confirmed, pending a much-awaited tour of India next month. .

At this stage, South African scientists are unsure of the effectiveness of existing vaccines against this new form of the virus.

The WHO was to meet on Friday to determine the dangerousness of the variant.

South Africa, officially the country most affected on the African continent by the virus, has seen a further increase in contamination in recent weeks.

First attributed to the Delta variant, this "exponential" increase is rather caused by the last mutated form, which represents "a major threat", said the Minister of Health, Joe Phaahla.

South Africa has around 2.9 million cases, resulting in 89,600 deaths.

More than 1,200 new cases in 24 hours were recorded Wednesday, against a hundred at the beginning of the month.

The authorities fear a new wave of pandemic by the end of the year.

Only 35% of eligible adults are fully immunized.

© 2021 AFP