The pandemic stops the 4 franchises: the Pro 14 board creates two tournaments, Benetton will be in the “northern” one. Middle East involvement also studied
TREVISO. With no formal approvals in place to allow South African teams to enter the UK and Ireland for their Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup matches, PRO14 Rugby and SA Rugby will organize doubles tournaments without intercontinental matches.
Despite a colossal effort, South African teams have not been granted permission to travel in time to allow them to play the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup as originally planned.
These issues are not limited to rugby alone, as many international sports have found the Covid-19 pandemic a difficult landscape to plan.
All options for South African teams to travel to Europe safely have been explored and exhausted by the League, due to the increased restrictions caused by the presence of South Africa on the red list of territories involved.
The “Northern” Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup will still take place on previously published dates as teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales aim to beat eight-time title winner Leinster Rugby. Rounds 4, 5 and 6 matches were already scheduled and provided to clubs, but South African teams will now be removed and start times may be changed prior to publication.
The “southern” tournament will be called Rainbow Cup SA and will include the best of what South African rugby has to offer; Cell C Sharks, DHL Stormers, Emirates Lions and Vodacom Bulls, whose World Cup winning Springboks prepare for the arrival of the British & Irish Lions. These games will be available in the UK and Ireland with current PRO14 Rugby TV partners and full details of this competition will be confirmed shortly by SA Rugby.
A large stakeholder group, led by a working group between the PRO14 Rugby and SA Rugby tournament team, has produced a long list of various options for team entry, base camps and high-level medical protocols over the past four months to suit different scenarios.
In total, 12 locations in the UK, Ireland and Europe were considered as base camps for South African teams to use or use as a quarantine destination before entering the UK and Ireland. SA Rugby also explored four other locations separate from this one.
Additionally, destinations in the Middle East were also explored as potential hosts for matches involving South African teams. This process produced project plans for each venue to include appropriate training and accommodation facilities and charter travel programs under the ongoing guidance of a medical management committee, comprised of the PRO14 medical advisor, tournament staff and union medical directors.
This group monitored the state of Covid-19 in the various territories and provided advice on the strategic approach to governments at all times. During this process, PRO14 Rugby has had great support from governments and health authorities of all jurisdictions.
This decision will have no impact on the long-term partnership between PRO14 Rugby and SA Rugby and further details on those plans and the league structure for the groundbreaking 2021/22 season onwards will be made public shortly.
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