Antoine Dupont with the ball during the Scotland-France match, November 22, 2020. -

ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP

  • The next two days of the European Rugby Cup have been suspended due to the new English variant of Covid-19.

  • Beyond this competition, which could end despite everything, there is the question of other European competitions.

  • Priority vaccination of athletes could be a solution.

Officially, this was only a "recommendation".

The kind you do with big eyes and a heavy voice.

On Friday, the Ministry of Sports kindly urged the National Rugby League and all its clubs to forget the idea of ​​participating in the next two days of the European Cup, scheduled for the weekends of the 15th to the 17th and the 22nd and January 24.

Faced with the health situation and the spread of the new variant, the Ministry of Sports indeed “strongly” advised against any travel to or from the United Kingdom.

Since then, the EPCR, the organizer of the tournament, has started to fight.

Suspension for the next few days?

Report?

Cancellation?

All the scenarios are considered, and the collective reflection could lead on Monday, after a series of meetings between the French and Anglo-Saxon authorities, to a new formula where we would forget the two days to come to meet a little later during unpublished round of 16 and not really originally planned.

In short, a maxi-resourceful, whose actors do not really know what to think.

“I fear only one thing is that it will be canceled, blows the manager of the Union Bordeaux-Bègles Christophe Urios.

There, it is suspended, but it is so closely linked to the state of health of Europe… It is a wise decision today when we see how it ignites in the United Kingdom.

I hope we will be able to finish this European Cup, we can hope that things will be better in April.

But we've been saying that since September… ”

Summarized by the Toulouse forwards coach, Jean Bouilhou, it gives something like: "we are in total vagueness".

And even if EPCR manages to "MacGyverize" its European Cup with two pieces of tape, a string and three PCR tests, the same problem will soon arise for other competitions.

Starting with the VI Nations tournament, which runs from early February between players between the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy and France.

And seen from here, there is nothing to indicate that the health situation will have changed particularly by February 6.

Invited on RMC on Sunday, the president of the FFR Bernard Laporte assured that the Tournament "will be played", while a meeting is scheduled for the beginning of the week to discuss the issue with the Ministry of Sports.

"It's a puzzle, but I don't think we should be alarmed," he explains.

The Tournament will be played, with a health protocol dictated by the government, and linked to this mutant virus.

Everything went well in the fall, it will be the same for the Tournament to come, I am not more worried than that.

"

What about football?

Except that in the fall, the UK was not isolated from the rest of Europe.

Faced with the situation, rumors already evoke a Tournament of the VI Nations played under bubble and entirely in France.

“For the moment, it is out of the question,” replies Laporte.

After that, if it was the sine qua non to play, we would, that's obvious.

And the ideal would be to do it in France, with the final in Gaillac.

"

Behind the valve, real logistical questions arise.

Is it possible to isolate, in France, six teams for more than 40 days, for the duration of the Tournament?

Unless we decide to shorten its duration, or even postpone it until spring.

In short, a great mess, which does not only concern rugby.

We think of the start of the cycling season, of the future Olympic qualifying tournaments in various disciplines and of course the Champions League.

In just over a month, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea will have to travel across Europe for the round of 16.

A date too far away for UEFA to act again, even if we already know that the health bubble option is not possible for trips of such short duration.

The vaccine solution

And if the national competitions should be able to go to the end of the season with the protocol in place, it is not unthinkable to imagine an end of the European season truncated or postponed to the summer, with for example a final tournament in one place.

Even if, with the Olympics and the Euro in focus, it is difficult to imagine viable calendars.

Unless until then, vaccines come to save the world of sport.

Not really considered a priority in the vaccination plan of the main European countries, high level athletes are however natural candidates.

Interviewed in November by the Team, infectious disease specialist Arnaud Fontanet, member of the Scientific Council on Covid-19, estimated "that a priority vaccination of professional athletes in the first half of 2021 would be justified".

First, because "they play an important role in society," he continues.

They bring happiness to many people who are particularly in need at the heart of this major crisis ”.

Then for "exemplarity".

"If athletes could get vaccinated and tell all the young people who follow them on social networks: 'Look, I was vaccinated and everything is fine. Do like me, like that, we can fill the stadiums again! ", that would be a great promotion for immunization.

"

Until then, we will trust all the MacGyvers in Europe.

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