Telegraph
Sale Sharks players went drinking into the early hours after winning the Premiership Cup Final, just 10 days before the the club returned 16 positive tests that has thrown the Premiership finale into chaos.
Premiership Rugby is facing a furious backlash after postponing Sale Sharks’ crucial final-round fixture against Worcester Warriors to Wednesday. Northampton Saints, meanwhile, have been forced to call off their match against Gloucester after several players were forced to self-isolate having come into contact with infected Sale players in their game on Tuesday night. Mark Darbon, the Northampton chief executive, described his “deep frustration” and “extreme disappointment” at forfeiting the match 20-0 because of Sale’s outbreak.
Sale’s squad are understood to have had drinks at the club’s Carrington training ground after beating Harlequins 27-19 on September 21. The club confirmed that the players had “a couple of beers” but strongly deny that this was the source of the outbreak.
Despite their absentees, The Sunday Telegraph understands that Sale could have fielded a competitive XV against Worcester Warriors, albeit with a prop playing on the wrong side of the scrum and their front-row replacements consisting of academy players. However, the game was pushed back to Wednesday after both Worcester Warriors and Public Health England expressed safety concerns.
The remaining members of Sale’s squad will be retested on Tuesday and Public Health England must also give the green light for the game to go ahead. Sale will not be allowed to register any new players while the RFU will conduct an audit of Sale’s track-and-trace system to establish how such a large outbreak occurred. If Sale cannot fulfil the match then they will also forfeit it 20-0.
Either way, the staging of the match will have significant implications on the play-off race. Sale currently occupy fourth place on 64 points, leading Bristol on points difference, with Wasps and Bath on 66 and 65 points respectively. Apart from Northampton, other clubs have maintained a public silence so far but several are understood to be privately furious that Sale’s match has been moved.
Gallagher Premiership 2019/20 latest standings
Gallagher Premiership
Team P W D L -/+ BP Pts
1 Exeter 21 15 0 6 228 14 74
2 Wasps 21 13 0 8 124 14 66
3 Bath 21 14 0 7 63 9 65
4 Sale 21 13 0 8 191 12 64
5 Bristol 21 13 1 7 75 10 64
6 Harlequins 21 9 1 11 -49 8 46
7 Gloucester 22 8 0 14 2 14 46
8 Northampton 22 8 0 14 -109 10 42
9 Worcester 21 7 0 14 -200 9 37
10 London Irish 21 6 1 14 -218 8 34
11 Leicester 21 6 1 14 -229 2 28
12 Saracens 21 13 0 8 122 13 -40
When the Premiership resumed post-lockdown on August 14, all clubs signed up to an agreement that they would be forced to forfeit a match if they suffered a significant number of positive Covid tests. In France, Castres were forced to cancel their Challenge Cup quarter-final against Leicester after four positive tests.
“They’re moving the goalposts,” one club source said. “It is making a mockery of the sport at a time when we are telling the Government that it is safe to open the stadiums but we’re going to put on a game where there has been a massive Covid-19.”
There are also legitimate concerns that the integrity of the Premiership will be at stake as Sale will have a distinct advantage in knowing what result they have to achieve to qualify for the play-offs. Should Sale qualify at another team’s expense, then there could be legal implications.
Premiership Rugby has confirmed it will not move the dates of the play-offs which will take place next weekend. That means that clubs will not necessarily know their opponents or venue until Wednesday night while Sale, should they qualify, could face a three-day turnaround.
Darren Childs, chief executive at Premiership Rugby, said: “In light of the unprecedented situation facing Premiership Rugby we have been forced to postpone the match.
“Our priority is the health and well-being of everyone involved, and we won't compromise this. But as this match has such a critical bearing on deciding the Gallagher Premiership Rugby champions, we wanted to do everything we could to play it.”
Always a Wasp