34 Munster players and staff land home as rugby brotherhood unites behind 14 in South Africa
The shadow of a Munster fan is shown against a flag before kick-off at Thomond Park, Limerick.
The majority of Munster’s players and staff have finally touched down on Irish soil after their traumatic trip to South Africa where two planned URC games were abandoned due to the changing Covid climate.
Fourteen of the travelling party remain behind in Cape Town and in quarantine after the detection of numerous positive Covid cases earlier in the week with the province saying this evening that those concerned are “doing well”.
As for the 34 who have been able to make it home today, they now face into a mandatory period of self-isolation and PCR testing. Some will do so at their own homes. Others share accommodation and will have to make do with another stint in hotels.
The province made the initial trip without a core of their internationals who had played for Ireland in November – and Damian De Allende - and this cohort has been training at the High Performance Centre in Limerick since Monday.
Also on site are academy players who weren’t included in the South African itinerary, as well a number of the province’s national talent squad and the provincial squad. Greencore Academy manager Ian Costello and his staff are overseeing their work.
Munster have declared their intention to proceed with their opening Heineken Champions Cup game away to Wasps on Sunday week, regardless of the current situation, and are in contact with tournament organisers EPCR.
What their squad looks like remains to be seen given most of those training under the eye of the academy staff are unregistered for Europe.
Members of the Munster travelling group who remain in South Africa will continue to receive on-the-ground support that has been described as “first class”.
As a group of 34 Munster players and staff finally departed Cape Town on Tuesday night, nearly half that number were left behind in a designated quarantine hotel.
Such a scenario would have been unfathomable for the Munster group when they touched down in South Africa less than two weeks ago, at a time when the Covid-19 situation in the country was considered to be stable.
Yet, the dramatic detection of the Omicron variant has led to days of uncertainty and anxiety as Munster sought to find a feasible exit route from South Africa as travel and quarantine restrictions came into play.
Munster were on the verge of flying out on a chartered plane on Sunday after making the move to Cape Town from Pretoria, but this plan was scuppered when a single positive result was returned from a round of PCR testing. That was followed by nine more positive cases, and then a further four after a fourth round of PCR testing in six days.
During such an unpredictable and ever-changing period, which has severely disrupted Munster’s United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup campaigns, there has been a need to prioritise the mental and physical wellbeing of the squad in South Africa.
It’s understood that rugby’s brotherhood shone through as the IRFU, South African Rugby Union, and URC organisers - among others - collaborated to deal with last-minute logistical planning, hotel changes, medical testing and mental health support.
Eugene Henning, the CEO of MyPlayers (the organisation for all the professional rugby players in South Africa), said it been heartening to see all the behind-the-scenes work conducted at a time when player welfare superseded all other considerations.
“I know SARU have been really busy behind the scenes in terms of flights, logistics, the testing, hotel accommodation and engagement with authorities. It was one hell of a job that they’ve had to do over the past few days.
“A massive support programme was placed around the guys who have been stuck in their hotels. From the get-go, we (MyPlayers) were placed on standby to be available if anything was needed. But I must say SARU has done such a good job that there wasn’t much more we could do in the circumstances, but we sat in on all the meetings. So much work went into getting the necessary consents to fly out of the country, to complete all the paperwork and provide the medical support.
“Of course there was the experience of the British & Irish Lions tour earlier this year (during a severe third wave of the pandemic), and so I think that helped when it came to knowing what to do. They had doctors available, and we were quickly pulled in to oversee, and to jump in if there was any trick missing. But it was all so well taken care of.”
Although there has been little to fault in terms of the support provided to Munster and Cardiff, who have also found themselves stuck in Cape Town, there is still real concern growing that future fixtures in the country will be met with hesitancy.
The two rounds of matches in South Africa were originally scheduled to be played in Italy due to Covid issues before being switched back unsuccessfully.
It’s believed the postponed URC games - such as Munster’s fixtures against the Bulls and Lions - could be rescheduled to a window during the 2022 Six Nations, but South African teams will be desperate to benefit from home-ground advantage at some point this season, particularly after completing a challenging four-week overseas tour earlier this year.
Two South African URC derbies originally scheduled for February 2022 have been brought forward and will be played in Durban and Cape Town this weekend.
“Apart from providing our teams with much-needed game time, we are also trying to open up space in the calendar for a possible rescheduling of the matches that had been postponed this weekend,” SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux has commented.
Yet, with around two-thirds of the South African population still not fully vaccinated, there may well be concerns around returning to the country, particularly after the latest drama that has left the visiting teams stranded away from home.
The majority of the Cardiff squad will only leave South Africa on Thursday, and upon arrival in England, will face a 10-day period of isolation in a UK Government Covid-19 hotel.
Six members of their touring party who tested positive will remain in South Africa until completing 10 days of quarantine in a Covid-19 hotel.
“Thankfully all the guys staying behind remain in good spirits and any symptoms they have are mild,” Cardiff director of rugby Dai Young commented. “They will support each other and the people with SARU, who have been first class, we have total trust.
“They are in really good hands, the doctor is checking on them twice a day and all the medical things are in place if there were any issues, which there’s not."
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