Lions, Sharks to know outcome of postponed URC games within weeks

The Lions and Sharks will know the outcome of their postponed games against the Glasgow Warriors and Ulster respectively in the coming weeks, with United Rugby Championship CEO Martin Anayi explaining that an independent review into the matter was being conducted.

Both teams were laid out by stomach bugs in the build up to their matches that were meant to be played in Johannesburg and Durban over the past weekend, before the late postponements on Friday afternoon.

After confirming that it was unlikely that the matches would be able to be rescheduled in a busy season, Anayi would not be drawn on whether the points would be awarded to the Lions and Sharks, or whether they would be shared or forfeited.

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“The rules do state that the games should be played. That’s the first point why the matches have been postponed and not abandoned,” Anayi explained to Sport 24 on Tuesday. 

“It’s difficult to find a slot in the schedule because of the international weekends. Our regulations state that games should be played wherever possible. If it is, we’ll replay those games. If it’s not and we simply don’t have a slot, it wouldn’t be right to send mismatched teams to play against each other.

“We have a sporting committee that needs to decide on this. On that committee, each territory has a representative and that’s absolutely binding on the board. We’ve kept it central. That body hears results of the independent medical review and relevant rugby factors. That will happen in the next few weeks, not months.”

Early indications coming out of the review are that both teams brought different stomach bugs into SA when they travelled from Scotland and Ireland, which seems to clear Durban as a possible source, after it had been speculated that the players may have caught the bug from swimming in the ocean.

“Initial indications are that the two squads were affected by two separate bugs within their groups, which means E.coli and norovirus were found among players,” said Anayi.

“There are also some indications that they might’ve brought it with them, so there’s a lot to go into. The medical review is ongoing and we’ll be going into that.”

Big frustration

One of the biggest frustrations for the SA sides was that they were only informed about the virus in the opposition camps on Friday last week, the day before the games were set to be played, with Anayi also only informed at that stage.

“Everyone agrees that the whole saga was rather bizarre, even the teams. That’s why we have an independent review ongoing. We must try and understand what happened,” said Anayi.

“Friday morning was actually the first I heard of it as well. There’s definitely a need for us to adapt what our processes are for informing the league, fellow teams, broadcasters and fans when situations such as this one occurs. Again, that’s why this medical review is important, so that we can learn going forward.

“It’s incredibly disappointing for all involved, particularly anybody close to the Sharks and Lions because of what those franchises had planned to put on, on match-day.”