Rob Baxter admits player safety an ‘impossible scenario’

Adam Kyriacou
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Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter believes clubs are “probably at our most dangerous period” of the coronavirus pandemic after a rise in cases.

The Chiefs will host Bath in Saturday’s Premiership play-offs, with Wasps tackling Bristol at the Ricoh Arena.

The line-up has been finalised following Sale’s rescheduled clash with Worcester on Wednesday being cancelled after an additional six players and two members of their backroom staff were diagnosed with Covid-19.

It raised the total number of positive tests to 27, making the match unsafe to play and forcing a Premiership Rugby panel to award the Warriors a 20-0 victory that ends Sale’s chances of finishing in the play-off positions.

“For a lot of rugby clubs around the country, we are probably at our most dangerous period – and I include us in that,” Baxter said.

“If you look at Exeter now, we are one of the hot-spots. We’ve gone from Exeter and Devon having hardly any cases of Covid to being in the top 20 hot-spots.

“All of a sudden, we are in a hot-spot, so the danger of a player actually picking up an infection and failing a test just through going into a shop is far greater now in Exeter than it was at any time through lockdown.

“We are telling the players and staff pretty much on a daily basis what the scenario is around new cases in the city and why they have to be diligent.

“The challenge is things you would think are not that problematic like maybe going for a cup of coffee or going for food at lunchtime or an evening.

“You also need to remember we’ve got players who have wives and children, children who are at school, wives who work. We can’t just put them in a bubble – it is just an impossible scenario. It just doesn’t work like that.”

If Exeter beat Bath, they face two finals in a week later this month – their first Champions Cup final, and a Premiership title showdown at Twickenham with Wasps or Bristol.

Baxter added: “All we can do is ask our players to be diligent. I know from the test results we’ve had up until now, they must be doing that.

“What is our biggest risk here? Our biggest risk at Exeter is that almost certainly virtually zero per cent of our squad have had it, so what does that make them prime candidates for? Picking it up somewhere.”

Addition to regulations?

Baxter, meanwhile, believes the Sale saga could see an addition to Premiership regulations for next season, which begins on November 20.

“I imagine because of what has happened at Sale there will be some addition to the regulations next season based on a particular number of positive tests will mean a forfeit of a fixture,” he said.

“As a set of regulations into a completely unknown quantity, they’ve pretty much done their job.

“What is highlighted now is there probably needed to be another line or another paragraph of regulation saying that PRL (Premiership Rugby) call an independent medical board in the case of a multiple outbreak – say more than four, five, six, whatever number they want it to be – and a decision will get made over the cancellation or postponement or awarding of points.

“Now we might need to add in that paragraph, and I suspect that is what will happen before we start the new season.”

 

Exeter Chiefs Rob Baxter

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