Rugby: Colomiers, hit hard by the Covid, will not play in Mont-de-Marsan

the essential
The Colomiers rugby players, affected by the Covid with seven proven cases this weekend, will not play the last day of Pro D2, Friday, against Mont-de-Marsan. The National League has indeed preferred to cancel this meeting. The whole team, staff and players, will pass new tests today. To know the exact state of the troops in view of the May 22 barrage for which the Columérins are qualified.

This is the tile! In full preparation for the end of the season and in particular for the final stages for which they are qualified, the Columérins are hit hard by a new wave of Covid. After that of the fall which had affected part of the workforce in November, a new contamination decimates the workforce of the Haut-Garonnais club where seven cases were detected this weekend, leading to isolation of these players for two weeks, the rest of the workforce having been placed in solitary confinement until Saturday.

In view of the situation, the match against Mont-de-Marsan counting for the last day will therefore not take place, the National League (LNR) having decided to simply cancel this meeting on the basis of the recommendations of the Covid-19 expert commission. This will therefore lead to an equalization to establish the final classification, while the Columérins are already qualified for the play-offs. And this, in accordance with the decision taken by the Steering Committee of the NRL at its meeting on December 1, the principle of equalization being applied if matches on the last day cannot be played due to Covid cases. Concretely, the club which should have played the match at home (Stade Montois in this case) will be awarded the average number of points scored at home (2.21) during the season. The club which should have played the away match (Colomiers therefore) will be awarded the average number of away points scored (1.64) during the season. In the Colomiers camp, we are now waiting to know where we will end the exercise in order to know the place and the opponent in the jump-off (Biarritz, Oyonnax or Grenoble?). This will depend mainly on the result of the late Grenoble-Vannes match this evening, as well as the results of the final day of Pro D2, Friday. This crisis situation could be worth the Columérins to finally finish in the 6^e place if ever the Grenoblois manage to garner 5 points in the last two matches they have to play (against Vannes tonight and against Montauban on Friday).

The dam threatened?

Suffice to say that the columérin staff will live a turbulent period to prepare for the play-off scheduled for Saturday, May 22. Especially since a sword of Damocles hovers above the columérines heads: while all the Columérins, players and staff, will undergo new tests this Wednesday, it should not be that new cases appear or that players of first line are affected in too many numbers. Because to play his barrage, it will be necessary to be able to align four pillars and two hookers on the scoresheet. Otherwise, Colomiers would be sidelined and it would be seventh in the standings to take his place. A scenario that nobody wants to believe on the side of the Bendichou stadium where, clearly, this beginning of spring is really very gloomy, Colomiers remaining on two defeats in a row after disappointing performances against Soyaux-Angoulême and Aurillac.

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