Rugby’s nightmare before Christmas gets WORSE! London Irish’s Boxing Day trip to Bath is called off after a spike in coronavirus cases among the Exiles squad – with Newcastle vs Leicester already cancelled
- London Irish’s festive trip to Bath has been called off due to positive Covid cases
- A ‘small number’ of positive cases appeared in the Exiles squad this week
- Newcastle vs Leicester Tigers on Boxing Day was called off for the same reason
Premiership Rugby’s nightmare before Christmas continued as London Irish’s trip to Bath became the second festive fixture cancelled due to Covid-19 cases.
Due to a ‘small number’ of positives in the Exiles camp the match follows Newcastle v Leicester in being called off this Boxing Day.
Bath, who have now had two games cancelled in a row after their Scarlets Champions Cup match was off last weekend, are expected now to be handed four points, and Irish two, under the new league regulations.
London Irish’s (above) Premiership tie at Bath has been called off due to a spike in Covid cases
The match was meant to be played at Bath’s Recreation Ground on Boxing Day
A Premiership Rugby spokesperson said: ‘The health and safety of players, staff, management, officials and supporters is our only priority, so the decision has been taken to call the game off.
‘We will give London Irish all the support they need and hope that those who have tested positive will make a swift and successful recovery.
‘Neither Premiership Rugby nor the club will be naming any of the players or staff involved and we’d ask everyone to respect their privacy.’
Irish boss Declan Kidney said of the news: ‘I’m really disappointed for the players, as they’ve acted professionally, following all the relevant guidelines, but this is the situation we find ourselves in at the moment, as the country continues to try and navigate its way through the pandemic.’
A small number of positive cases has appeared in Declan Kindney’s Exiles camp this week
Bath’s Stuart Hooper added: ‘We stand by all Premiership Clubs today and while we are disappointed with this news, the health and safety of everyone in our sport must be our top priority.
‘I know this news will be hard felt by our supporters who were due to attend and, but I know you’ll understand and join me in wishing all those affected this week a full and safe recovery.’
The four other games – Harlequins against Bristol, Northampton versus Worcester, Sale facing Wasps and Gloucester’s trip to Exeter are all set to go ahead as planned.
The Chiefs have lined up extra testing on Thursday to make sure they can play, having had a major outbreak last week which saw their European Cup trip to Toulouse axed.