Munster may look at new signings as registration date for Champions Cup extended

General view of Thomond Park

Munster have been given until next Wednesday to finalise their Heineken Champions Cup squad in the wake of their Covid-19 outbreak in South Africa, competition organisers announced on Thursday.

European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) has changed its tournament rules for both the 2021/22 Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup season to allow for an extended period of registration of players for the competitions.

The move comes as a response to the plights of four clubs, Munster, Cardiff, Scarlets, and Zebre Parma, who were in South Africa for United Rugby Championship games when Covid-related travel restrictions were imposed across Europe following the emergence last week of a new and contagious variant of the virus now known as Omicron.

The majority of the Munster squad which spent its last three days in Cape Town isolating in individual hotel rooms, finally arrived back in Ireland on Wednesday morning having been required to leave 14 of their party, a mix of players and staff behind who had tested positive and were forced into South African quarantine. The 34 members of the touring group who are now back in Ireland, including head coach Johann van Graan, have now gone into a further mandatory self-isolation period with their opening Champions Cup pool game away to English club Wasps in Coventry on December 12, leaving only a core of international players who did not make the trip and a group of academy players to continue training in Limerick.

It remains to be seen whether the players forced into quarantine on Irish soil will be available for the Wasps game a week on Sunday given that even if they were cleared to travel to England they would have done very little group training and would not have been reintegrated to the squad currently training under Academy head Ian Costello at the province’s High Performance Centre.

That has led to efforts to sign players, particularly front-row players, on short-term contracts in order to field a viable matchday 23 in Coventry and EPCR’s move on Thursday now gives van Graan some wiggle room in that regard.

“Following consultation with the leagues and unions, it has been decided to extend the first registration date from last month to allow all participating clubs to supplement their squads with an unlimited number of previously unregistered players,” the EPCR statement read.

“All new players will have to be registered on or before Wednesday, 8 December at midday (Irish time).”

The competition will also operate under enhanced restrictions to mitigate against match cancellations, such as was the case last season when the final two rounds of the pool stages were wiped out following disruptions in the earlier rounds when four matches were not played and deemed 28-0 victories for the sides not compromised by confirmed cases.

As was the case then, there are no alternative weekends available in the 2021-22 season calendar if a similar situation arises this time around.

“EPCR is in regular dialogue with the leagues and clubs to ensure that all possible measures are considered so that the matches take place as scheduled.

“While looking forward to another series of compelling pool stage fixtures, EPCR is mindful of how recent events have impacted on Cardiff Rugby, Munster Rugby, Scarlets and Zebre Parma in particular, and the tournament organiser would like to extend its best wishes to the players and staff who currently remain in South Africa, as well as to the players and staff who have been repatriated and are currently isolating.”