Cardiff, Scarlets STUCK in South Africa after failure to clear charter flight

Cardiff and the Scarlets say they are struggling to fly their teams back from South Africa despite securing a charter plane.

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The two Welsh regions, along with Munster and Zebre, have been in Mzansi preparing to play back-to-back matches in the United Rugby Championship (URC).

Cardiff and Scarlets both issued statements

Those fixtures have since been postponed after South Africa was added to the UK Government’s red travel list.

A Cardiff statement read: “Cardiff Rugby continue to work tirelessly to repatriate their travelling party from South Africa following sudden developments around the Covid-19 variant B.1.1.529.

“A charter aircraft has been secured, however we have been unable to secure Civil Aviation Authority clearance due to the closure of borders in the UK and European Union.”

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A Scarlets statement added: “Together with our colleagues at Cardiff Rugby, we had hoped to fly out of South Africa on Friday.”

The URC reacted to news of the discovery of a new coronavirus variant by postponing the next two rounds of matches on South African soil, starting with this weekend’s games between the Stormers and Zebre, the Sharks and the Scarlets, the Bulls and Munster, and the Lions and Cardiff.

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“The safety and well-being of our participating clubs’ players, coaches and support staff and match officials is the foremost priority and the URC is currently working with the four visiting clubs – Cardiff Rugby, Munster Rugby, Scarlets and Zebre Parma – to facilitate their return as soon as possible,” a statement from URC said.

“This decision is based upon the latest guidance against non-essential travel to and from South Africa, the ban on direct flights to the UK and other home destinations and the potential hotel quarantines enforced upon those returning from South Africa.

“As has been the operating practice throughout the pandemic, the URC will continue engaging with our Medical Advisory Group, our union shareholders and respective governments to plan according to the latest health guidelines.

“A period of assessment will now be required to better understand the impact of these new travel restrictions and how to reschedule these games within the current season. Given the nature and speed of these developments, URC will provide further updates at the appropriate time through official channels only.”

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Anyone arriving in the UK from South Africa after 04:00 on Sunday will have to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days.

That would have a major impact on the two Welsh regions’ preparations for their opening Champions Cup matches.

British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Friday the UK was “buying time” by adding South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia to its travel red list, adding that the Government was taking a “safety-first approach” over the B.1.1.529 variant.