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Bristol will play in Premiership final if Wasps - who beat them by 23 points - are forced to pull out

By PA
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Bristol will be propelled into the Gallagher Premiership final against Exeter if Wasps fall to the outbreak of coronavirus that has placed their October 24 participation at Twickenham in doubt.

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The Bears were crushed 47-24 at the Ricoh Arena in last Saturday’s play-off but would be given a reprieve on the strength of finishing higher than Bath – the other losing semi-finalist – at the end of the regular 2019/20 Premiership season earlier his month.

Four Wasps players and three members of backroom staff produced positive results for Covid-19 last Wednesday and are now self-isolating, with the club also cancelling training for the remainder of the week.

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Exeter boss Rob Baxter looks ahead to Saturday’s Champions Cup final

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Exeter boss Rob Baxter looks ahead to Saturday’s Champions Cup final

An additional batch of testing will take place on Saturday, with the results due on Monday, and then a final round will be conducted on Tuesday with the outcome to be announced the following day.

If a further spread of the disease prevents Wasps from facing Exeter in London, Bristol will then take their Premiership final place.

The contingency covering a team’s inability to take their place in the Twickenham final was drawn up in August by the professional game board as part of the return to play regulations post-lockdown.

With England facing Italy in the climax to the 2020 Six Nations a week later on October 31, there is no space in the calendar to rearrange the fixture.

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Bristol would be in a state of readiness if they were to play Exeter, however, due to their appearance in the Challenge Cup final against Toulon on Friday night.

It means they must also undergo one last round of Premiership Rugby coronavirus testing on Tuesday as they are placed on standby.

After eight rounds of fixtures that were unaffected by Covid, the Premiership was plunged into chaos on the final weekend of the regulation season with a mass outbreak at play-off chasing Sale who eventually had to forfeit their game with Worcester. Gloucester vs Northampton was also cancelled.

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

41 Go to comments
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FEATURE Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby? Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?
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