Munster's Rainbow Cup hopes over after Benetton awarded Ospreys tie

28 May 2021; CJ Stander of Munster during the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup match between Munster and Cardiff Blues at Thomond Park in Limerick. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Munster’s hopes of silverware this season have been ended after Benetton advanced to the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup final without playing their final game.

The Italian side needed a victory at Ospreys on Saturday to claim their place against South African opposition in the June 19 final but were confirmed as northern pool winners on Wednesday when positive Covid-19 cases in the Ospreys squad caused the cancellation of that final-round pool game.

As a result, with Benetton handed the four-match points that mean they cannot be caught at the top of the table, rendering Munster’s trip to Zebre on Friday evening meaningless.

Munster had been gunning for a bonus-point victory in Parma to pile the pressure on Benetton, who were three points ahead of their visit to Ospreys the following day but competition rules mean that the Welsh region are unable to field a team after their latest round of Covid-19 testing returned three positive results.

“The decision to cancel the game is a result of the mandate from Public Health Wales that all individuals who were part of the travelling party from the previous fixture are now required to self-isolate in line with public health protocols,” a PRO14 statement read.

“With no available weekends remaining, the game will not be rescheduled. As a result, PRO14 rugby will use the protocol decided prior to the 2020/21 season whereby a game that could not be rescheduled would result in that fixture deemed a 0-0 draw, but four match points would be awarded to the team who had not been the cause of the postponement.” 

Benetton had been favourites to advance to the final, which will be played on their home turf in Treviso at Stadio di Monigo when the winner of the four-team South African pool will travel north on June 19.

They were the only unbeaten team left in the northern pool after four rounds but there was still a chance for Munster, and also Glasgow Warriors who have 19 points having played all five of their games, to take advantage of an Ospreys victory. Saturday’s game in Wales would have been the now-finalists’ first trip outside of Italy in the competition.

Now we will never know and Munster, who declined to comment on Wednesday other than express disappointment at the news, will now rue their round-three defeat at home to Connacht which would have made matters less clear-cut going into the final weekend of pool action.