Rock and hard place I think. Munster know that they can get a 23 man squad together, but they would mostly be academy players, and most are not EPCR registered. The issue has arisen before, where a club needed to register more players at a late stage, and the EPCR refused on the grounds of the integrity of the rules. They will do so again. The EPCR have repeatedly confirmed there will be no movement of the fixture either. The Munster squad is having daily tests, and all is well so far. For their health and well being, let us hope it remains so.
They have permission to travel to Ireland, but there are hints that, even if they isolate for 10 days upon arrival in Ireland, the UK may not allow them to then onward travel to England. I have no idea what the rules are, but I would think we have rules about bypassing our quarantine rules by coming from a red list country via a third country. I am guessing that there is a need to have been in a 'green' list country for a minimum number of days before travel.
From some tweets that I have read, the big issue is finding a (suitable) plane and crew, and thus far that has not been found. Operationally, airlines appear to have got everything off the ground and out of the region before the deadlines set in, and are not flying in any planes to avoid them being stranded (crew and plane). It would be a really big risk to fly a big jet in to SA (but I am guessing they could easily fill it with passengers wanting to get back 'home'). But, what happens if it has landed and then more of the squad test positive? The plane would be stuck there. I can't see an airline wanting to risk stranding a big jet. The other issue is if all the players are on one flight. These guys simply do not 'fit' into normal seats (width of seat or leg room). They normally travel business class or above.
I also understand that the 10 days have to be full days (midnight to midnight). Assuming the team flew from Ireland to England on the Sunday morning, they would have to enter the quarantine hotel on Wednesday in Ireland. That's tomorrow. There are no commercial flights direct to Dublin, but one stop flights typically take 13-16 hours. Add some hours to get through immigration and on to a coach up to the hotel. They have less than 24 hours to be on a plane. The plane has to get there first. So, it pretty much has to be taking off right now. That does not seem likely to happen.
I don't think anybody wants this, but it is by now probably too late for the squad of players to get here in time, and the EPCR will not allow the late registration of players.
Always a Wasp
