Belgium wins without playing: too many Covid cases in the Ukrainian XV
Rugby Europe regulations are very clear in the implementation of the health protocol and communicated “that the Ukraine team has identified a high number (9) of positive cases of Covid among its team members. These cases prevent Ukraine from fielding a team this weekend. According to the rules in the matter, Rugby Europe specifies that the result of the match is sold by a package for the Ukrainian national team with the score of 28-0 in favor of Belgium. Belgium therefore wins the five points (as a bonus victory) before going to Germany on February 19th. The Black Devils will then continue with a trip to Switzerland on March 12 before hosting Poland, probably the decisive match, a week later and closing the Tournament in Lithuania on March 26. Ironically, Belgium had awarded a package against Romania a year ago for the same reasons and retained its relegation to the lower level…
Joined Wednesday evening after group training, Frédéric Cocqu, the T1 of the Black Devils, did not hide his disappointment. “We would have liked to play this game. It was important for us to draw a line under the setback conceded against the Batavians and to offer our supporters a first victory this Saturday at the Mandela. From an accounting point of view, it’s a good deal but sportingly, it changes our plans since we can’t start this new challenge in Belgium. In terms of logistics, we are maintaining the training sessions scheduled for this weekend and we are adapting next week to make up for the loss of references from the aborted match against the Ukrainians before starting the Tournament on German soil in ten days. Communion with the public will be for the visit to Poland in six weeks.”