34 - 27

Gloucester's European hopes dashed as second successive match is cancelled

08 Jun 2021

(Photo by PA)

Premiership Rugby have confirmed that this Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership round 22 match between Gloucester and Worcester Warriors has been called off, a decision that look to have ended the chances of the Kingsholm club’s qualifying for next season’s Heineken Champions Cup as a top-eight finishing side.

Gloucester are currently eleventh on the table, three points behind eighth-place Bath, and the two points they are likely to receive from this latest cancellation won’t be enough for them to break into the qualification picture.

A Premiership Rugby statement read: “Last week Gloucester returned a number of positive Covid-19 tests and had a large number of their squad isolating which led to the cancellation of their scheduled match at home to Bath.

Lions pick Finn Russell guests on the latest RugbyPass All Access

“Yesterday [Monday] there was an additional positive result in their Covid-19 testing, which led to several new players going into isolation this week and the club writing to Premiership Rugby to confirm they are unable to field a matchday 23 for this weekend.

“Under the Premiership Rugby regulations, the match between Gloucester and Worcester will be cancelled. A Premiership Rugby panel will now be convened to determine the allocation of points and a further announcement will be made in due course.”

'He had brainwashed me… I should have stayed an All Blacks supporter'
More surfer dude than rugby jock, Jordy Reid took an unconventional route to @gloucesterrugby as @heagneyl ??? finds out https://t.co/fy2EVdXAUu
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 6, 2021

A Premiership Rugby spokesperson added: “We are in consultation with Public Health England over this outbreak and while no one wants to call off any match, especially the last game of the season our priority is the health and safety of everyone involved with Gloucester and Worcester.

“We will stay in constant contact with both clubs, offer any support necessary and we wish everyone affected at Gloucester a full and speedy recovery. Neither Premiership Rugby nor the club will be naming any of the players or staff involved and we’d ask everyone to respect their privacy.”

"With my hair on muddy pitches, I don’t want to get any mud in it so it just keeps it all tidy but I have been wearing it since I was a young boy so I probably feel almost naked without it." https://t.co/YQmamiYXQu pic.twitter.com/hjEVE72Iiw
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 6, 2021

LIVE

Hong Kong SVNS | Day 1

Behind the Scenes with the Australian Rugby Sevens Team in Hong Kong | HSBC SVNS Embedded | Episode 9

The Rise of Kenya | The Report

New Zealand in Hong Kong | Brady Rush | Sevens Wonders | Episode 4

When the referee is put in an impossible position? | Whistle Watch

The Fixture: How This Rugby Rivalry Has Lasted 59 Years

Boks Office | Episode 38 | Six Nations Round 5 Review

Watch now: Lomu - The Lost Tapes

Comments

0 Comments

Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Latest Features

LONG READ

The technical tweaks that could send Wales back to rugby's top table

Even though Matt Sherratt wasn't able to engineer a win, he showed tentative signs of a new Welsh way that could make them more competitive

LONG READ

Alex Masibaka: 'I was on a stag do in Barcelona when Gregor Townsend called'

The Angouleme bulldozer has charted a remarkable voyage from Western Australia to the senior Scotland squad.

LONG READ

‘You feel the interest, that motivates you too’: Guido Petti wooed by Quins' personal touch

The Pumas lock will be living in Twickenham and playing big games there later this year, but wants to leave Bordeaux on a high.

Comments on RugbyPass

Shark Bull 18 minutes ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

A tad ungracious. The ABs side that got scalped in Chicago was - save for 2 locks - the same squad that had been on a 17 game win streak. A streak that included 40 PTS + wins against France and SA. 30 PTS+ wins against AUS.

They just got beaten at their own game that day and outclassed by the best 9/10 axis in the game at that time.

39 Go to comments

Shark Bull 22 minutes ago

Andy Farrell is draining Ireland’s resources to benefit the Lions

Their second 6Nations loss in 3 years?

5 Go to comments

Shark Bull 24 minutes ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Used to be the premier fixture in world rugby and one of the biggest in world sport.

39 Go to comments

Shark Bull 26 minutes ago

Sweeney survives vote of no confidence at RFU special general meeting

How???????????

1 Go to comments

Shark Bull 26 minutes ago

Du'Plessis Kirifi commits to All Blacks dream with new contract

Total unit. Awesome athlete.

2 Go to comments

Zama Zama 1 hour ago

Andy Farrell is draining Ireland’s resources to benefit the Lions

@dc0000 Ffs Nige, are you typing with your forehead again?

5 Go to comments

JW 1 hour ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Yes but we don’t want to be anything like the US do we!

I think it works especially in america for those types of days. Of course the general idea is that you spend time together and although watch sport is the exact opposite I’d reckon it would probably be a net positive in the end.

Something that has or should have more meaning is another thing entirely though. Or does the day just not have that much meaning anymore either? Like having a ‘rivalry’ with the other nation you’re celebrating as team mates.. well hello? Maybe it’s a good day for the All Blacks v Kangaroos game? Transtasman version of the black clash?

39 Go to comments

JW 1 hour ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

They can and do, Ireland later this year is one.

39 Go to comments

FF 1 hour ago

The story of Romania's Mariana Lucescu: The Stejarii ‘Madame Rugby’

You’re welcome and sorry for the late reply.

could targeted investment by IRB/World Rugby and other have helped over the decades?

I think so. More money is always good and compared to other T2 Federations, although things aren’t perfect, the Romanian Rugby Federation did a good job managing it’s budget.

I think I saw T2Rugby tweeting that out of T2 nations funding around half goes to the 3 Pacific Islands which might be a bit of a waste considering how much coruption there is inside those Federations.

I had read there was a big exodus to France after professionalism which was a major blow, could investment at this critical juncture have kept more of those players, coaches, officials in place and reduced the damage?

It was a major blow for the local championship and the level of the local competition.

This was fixed in 2011 when the Superliga was created - a professional league with 8 teams. I think it had 10 in it’s peak. Having a pro league for a T2 nation is really good but now the issue is there are only 6 teams which means you don’t have a lot of matches during a season. It would’ve been great if there would be again 8 or 10 teams but I don’t see that happening any time soon.

However, for the national side, this exodus was really good. Even now we get benefits from it, although we don’t have as many players abroad, because kids of those players are playing at a higher intensity level in France - ex. Gontineac, Mitu.

8 Go to comments

Utiku Old Boy 1 hour ago

Hurricanes hit high gear in bruising win over Waratahs

A major shift in intensity by the Canes. Walker-Leawere, Sullivan, Umaga-Jensen, Kirifi, Lomax, Aumua, Iose, Naholo - all were fired up! Interesting to hear Ruben Love talking about working on playing with more depth to increase their ability to get it wide. Also how hard they wanted to step up the defense in recognition of how much Cory Jane puts into it. Love had subliminal skills on display. For the Tahs, Bell and their scrum was a handful and Suaalii was well contained (especially by Sullivan) but had some great touches. Definitely a star on the rise.

1 Go to comments

JW 1 hour ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

I think the idea would definitely be to have both SRP and the international together.

39 Go to comments

JW 1 hour ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Has it been analysed has it, were can you see the proposal?