Welsh rugby union teams Cardiff Blues and Scarlets have announced they are returning home from South Africa after the country was added to the UK travel red list, following the discovery of an aggressive mutation of the Covid-19 virus there.
In a tweet, Cardiff said: “With the situation in South Africa having changed so quickly, we are now looking to repatriate our staff ASAP. For concerned families and friends, please rest assured that our focus is to ensure the safety and welfare of our people and will keep you updated with any developments.”
Scarlets added in a statement on their website: “Following the news of a new Covid variant in South Africa, Scarlets would like to assure families and friends that we are making every effort to get our touring party back home to the UK as soon as possible. We will provide further updates as soon as we can.”
The UK announced it would be imposing restrictions on flights and travelers from six African nations after a new variant of the coronavirus – B.1.1.529 – was detected in South Africa. The other countries added to the list are Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Eswatini.
Fellow EU nations Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Malta have all announced imminent entry bans to all travelers who’ve entered South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini in the past two weeks.
The Vodacom United Rugby Championships announced on Friday that they will postpone matches scheduled to take place this week and next week in South Africa.
“The safety and well-being of our participating clubs’ players, coaches, 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,” Vodacom URC said in a statement.
