Toulon eliminated on the green carpet!

The match between Leinster and Toulon will not take place. Toulon eliminated on the green carpet! The EPCR, organizer of the competition, announced at the beginning of the afternoon that the match, initially scheduled for Friday evening at 6.30 p.m. on the lawn of the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and counting for the knockout stages of the Champions Cup had was canceled due to a case of Covid-19 within the Toulon workforce. A few hours earlier, the first rumors of a cancellation of the match and of a positive case from the side of the RCT players had come through the Irish capital where the two teams were already located. There was then no question of canceling the meeting. However, the local daily The42 assured that the Toulon leaders had warned the EPCR that one of its players, not from the trip, had tested positive for Covid-19 during the latest screening tests to which the two teams and their staff had had to lend themselves respective members of the staff and had to isolate themselves.

Toulon eliminated on green carpet

The most total uncertainty then hovered over the maintenance of this second match in the program of the 8th finals of the most prestigious of the European Cups (the quarter-finals are scheduled for next weekend). Five hours after the announcement of the cancellation of the match, the EPCR confirmed that Toulon were declared the loser. The RCT, released without playing, will therefore not see the quarter-finals. Bernard Lemaître, the president of the Toulon club, cries scandal. “It’s disgusting, the player tested positive on Wednesday and immediately isolated, plague the successor of Mourad Boudjellal for Olympic noon. The EPCR was immediately informed, but let us go to Dublin. For more than 24 hours. And despite a completely negative new test of the players last night (Thursday) at 8 p.m., these people made this decision less than five hours before the match. “A feeling all the more bitter for the RCT that last December, the Var had already lost on the green carpet (28-0), against the Scarlets during the group stage for refusing to face the Welsh because of of a case of Covid-19 in the opposing camp. The story is cruel.

EPCR press releases:
“Following a videoconference meeting of a Match Day Medical Risk Assessment Commission made up of medical officials from the federations, leagues and both clubs, to which the Irish health authorities contributed, he has been decided to cancel the Champions Cup round of 16 match between Leinster Rugby and RC Toulon scheduled for tonight (Friday April 2) at the RDS Arena. The Commission, which received independent medical advice from Dr Brendan Payne (England) and Dr Daniel Koch (Switzerland), was informed that a player from RC Toulon, who did not visit Ireland, was informed had tested positive for Covid-19 as part of the club’s routine screening. A Match Results Resolution Committee will be convened as soon as possible to determine the outcome of the match. “

“Following a medical opinion stating that the match could not be played safely, RC Toulon were unable to select a team after it was ruled that the club had a number of close contacts at high risk with one of his players, who tested positive for COVID-19, who had not taken part in the trip. Consequently, with RC Toulon not being able to play the match, the Commission decided, in accordance with the terms of the EPCR COVID-19 protocol, that Leinster would qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup on weekend of 9/10/11 April. “