Munster in race to get out of South Africa as Champions Cup opener against Wasps in doubt

The Munster team arrive at their training facility in Pretoria earlier this week. Picture: INPHO/Gordon Arons

Munster’s ability to field a competitive side in their Heineken Champions Cup pool opener at Wasps on December 12 has been thrown into serious doubt with efforts to evacuate the squad from South Africa likely to stretch into early next week, sources close to the situation have told the Irish Examiner.

In more innocent times, B1.1.529 may have been mistaken for an elaborate lineout call but as the latest variant of the Covid-19 virus it poses an even bigger danger for the four United Rugby Championship sides looking to get home to Europe this weekend.

The UK’s decision to place South Africa and four neighbouring countries on its 'Red List' for travel restrictions on Thursday evening set in train a chain of events that led to the URC postponing the next two rounds of matches that were to take place in the territory.

Munster had been due to play the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday evening before moving onto Johannesburg to face the Lions seven days later, then return to Ireland to begin preparations for the trip to Coventry eight days after that.

That in itself was an onerous challenge given head coach Johann van Graan had to leave his international contingent at home for the first game following their Test exertions with Ireland earlier this month but now there is a problem potentially far more consequential with the Munster squad, all of whom returned negative results from their latest round of PCR testing, now facing the prospect of travelling to the Coventry Building Society Arena having not played a game in eight weeks, dating back to their URC round five loss at Ospreys on October 23.

The spectre of mandatory home or even hotel quarantine for the players and management still trying to depart South Africa is another potential game-changer. The clock is also ticking on potential entry to the UK on the week of the Wasps match given that jurisdiction’s new rules mean that after 4am on Sunday, all UK and Irish residents will either be banned from entering the UK if they have been in South Africa in the previous 10 days or be required to quarantine in a hotel on arrival.

With Munster expected to fly from Ireland to England on the eve of the match, December 11, that means they would need to arrive home on Irish soil this Tuesday at the latest.

Thus, the province’s priority this weekend is simply to get back to Ireland in all haste.

A number of Munster supporters are also believed to have travelled independently to South Africa, and not as paying additions to the official travelling party while IRFU referee Andrew Brace was due to take charge of Sunday’s game between the Lions and Cardiff Blues in Johannesburg.

Competition organisers URC and the travel operators involved are understood to be working around the clock in an effort to get all four teams - Munster, Cardiff Blues, Scarlets and Zebre Parma - as well as officials out of South Africa and back to Europe but the task was described to the Irish Examiner on Friday as “challenging”.

It is believed all scheduled flights departing the country, a winter sun destination for Europeans looking to enjoy temperatures in the high 20s centigrade, have long been sold out while potential charter flights need clearance from the South African Department of Transport.

Those are just the immediate problems. Rescheduling two rounds of fixtures for the eight teams involved is another logistical issue bordering on the nightmarish given the crowded rugby calendar. There are no games scheduled for the five Six Nations match weekends in February and March yet the Irish, Italian and Welsh sides will once again be without their Test players while the South Africans - the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers - will have full complements from which to select.

To think Van Graan believed he had problems beforehand. Throughout this pandemic, the head coach has maintained that in such uncertain times, his organisation and the people in it must adapt to survive. To date they have risen to the occasion yet now more than ever will Munster’s ability to do so come under greater pressure.