SHANE WILLIAMS
WALES AND LIONS LEGEND
WALES' four regions begin their European campaigns this weekend and they will head into the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup in absolute chaos through no fault of their own.
It is a real shame. I was looking forward to Europe this year because to have Cardiff, Ospreys and Scarlets all in the premier tier competition is so good for Welsh rugby.
But as we all know now, Cardiff and Scarlets are in disarray ahead of their opening games with Toulouse and Bristol Bears respectively after being forced into quarantine following their return from South Africa.
It has been a remarkable week, the like of which I can't ever remember. Welsh rugby has had plenty of turmoil down the years, but this situation is new and that takes some doing! Jokes aside, the players and staff of Cardiff and Scarlets have had it tough.
I can't speak from personal experience on what it's like to be in quarantine for close to two weeks, but there is no doubt it won't have been easy. I've seen a lot of people on social media saying they should stop complaining and get on with it. Yes, these players are in a decent hotel and being looked after, but they are also staring at the same four walls day after day and that should not be underestimated.
Liam Williams, Jonathan Davies, Rhys Priestland and Jarrod Evans and the rest of the lads are rugby players, but they are also human beings like anyone else. All the players and staff in quarantine have wives and husbands, girlfriends and boyfriends, sons and daughters, and friends and family.
Being stuck away from them is tough, whoever you are so some empathy needs to be shown. That is why I know the Welsh Rugby Union has been on hand to offer wellbeing support.
It was concerning to me to hear reports of Cardiff players suffering with their mental health while they were still in South Africa. I'm so glad the majority of their squad has now returned home and are quarantining in England. I do feel though for the six stuck in South Africa.
Hopefully, they can come home as soon as possible.
Somehow, the four Welsh teams need to try and dust themselves down and prepare for Europe and the reality is that it is going to be an extremely tough ask.
Let's look at the Scarlets and Cardiff first. The Scarlets will emerge from their quarantine the day before Saturday's scheduled match with Bristol. I am clear in my view that all those who have been stuck in a hotel near Belfast for ten days cannot and must not play in that game.
I'm sure that won't happen. Even if some players felt like they could play, there are practical considerations to look at here. If Scarlets come out of quarantine at some point on Friday, they would then have to fly straight to Bristol to prepare for the match the following day.
“There is no way the Scarlets will put their players at risk against Bristol”
It's a non-starter. I know the Scarlets players are doing their best to stay active while they are stuck in their hotel rooms by doing yoga and exercise classes online. They have also had weights and exercise equipment ferried out to them so they can try and stay on top of their fitness.
That is all well and good and the Scarlets are to be applauded for the way they are looking after their squad, but it is impossible to prepare for a high-octane Champions Cup game when you can't leave your hotel room. It just can't happen.
Here's the thing. When you play at the highest level, all the players are finely tuned athletes who are used to training and playing day after day and week after week. When you don't do that, even if it's for only two weeks or so, you can lose physical condition quite quickly. I was obviously never forced into quarantine when I was a player, but you can liken the current situation to when you are coming back from a minor injury like a hamstring or calf tear.
When you rest your body, your muscles and joints relax and it is very dangerous to go from that straight into full contact. There is a reason why when you return from injury, you have a couple of weeks to get used to the physical aspect of rugby again. We saw that after the first lockdown.
When rugby returned, the players had to take time to ramp things up in training before taking contact in matches and it's the same situation here because again, there are significant player welfare aspects to consider.
I'm sure there is no way the Scarlets will put their players at risk against Bristol. Equally, I'm also sure Wayne Pivac will have been on the blower and said he doesn't want to see the likes of Liam, Jonathan and Wyn Jones – to name just a few of his Scarlets Wales players – take to the field. It means Dwayne Peel's side has two options: forfeit the game and accept an automatic 28-0 defeat or play with a squad likely to be dominated by academy or semiprofessional players.
The Scarlets are also likely to loan a few players from the Ospreys, but that is complicated by the fact they would be cup tied to the men in red for the rest of Europe if they play.
I can see why that is a tricky situation for Ospreys head coach Toby Booth. He is doing the right thing by making the offer to loan out players, but he also has to think about his team first.
The solution in my eyes is to play the game with the strongest side Scarlets can possibly field as I think that is better than matches being called off and not rearranged. However, in what are clearly exceptional circumstances, I'd hope Scarlets and Bristol can work together in the build-up.
Dwayne and Pat Lam could have a chat and perhaps Bristol could agree to playing something of a weakened side. If the Bears go fully loaded with Kyle Sinckler, Steven Luatua, Charles Piutau and Semi Radradra against a Scarlets academy side, the result will be ugly.
Some might say two weakened sides going head-to-head devalues the Champions Cup as a competition and I can see that argument, but in my view getting the game on is better than not having one at all.
Cardiff are in a slightly different situation as they have a number of their Welsh internationals available to face Toulouse as they didn't travel to South Africa.
That means they can mix and match guys like Josh Adams, Uilisi Halaholo and Seb Davies with some younger talent. Again, it's clear they will struggle to beat defending Champions Cup champions Toulouse, but perhaps the French giants could also agree to play a mixand-match team.
All this is far from ideal and the only Welsh team which looks like they will not be that affected by all this for their European opener is the Dragons. They face Perpignan in their first Challenge Cup game.
This story on quarantine and Covid-19 has changed by the hour and by the day, so I'm sure we are going to see more developments this week. Who knows what will happen before the weekend?
But, if at all possible, let's get the games played so long as player welfare is not compromised.
