Saturday's Benetton vs Munster PRO14 match is off

A Guinness PRO14 match involving Benetton has been postponed for the second successive weekend due to Covid. The Italian side were initially due to play at Connacht last Sunday. That round four match fell by the wayside and now their round five game against Munster, another Irish team, has also been called off with a view to rescheduling it for some time in 2021. 

A statement from the PRO14 read: “The round five Guinness fixture between Benetton and Munster has been postponed. “The game was due to take place on Saturday, November 7, in Treviso. 

“However, Benetton have reported that three players have returned positive cases of Covid-19 and that four other players identified as close contacts are now isolating. 

CJ Stander guest-stars on this week’s episode of RugbyPass Offload

CJ Stander guest-stars on this week’s episode of RugbyPass Offload

“Having considered all of the available evidence, the PRO14 Rugby Medical Advisory Group has deemed that this fixture cannot go ahead as scheduled. PRO14 Rugby will examine potential dates in early 2021 to reschedule the game.”

First-time quarter-finalists in 2019, Benetton have been having a hard time since rugby restarted in Italy. All three matches of the new 2020/21 season have been lost, leaving them bottom of Conference B with just a single point, 16 behind group leaders Munster.

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The admission that they are three positive tests in the Benetton ranks with four players also identified as close contacts is more information than was put out when last weekend’s match in Galway was called off. The PRO14 statement announcing that call-off vaguely read: “Benetton will not be able to travel due to a small number of isolated positive cases of Covid-19. 

“Public health guidelines in Italy currently prevent the Benetton squad from resuming rugby activities. As a result, the fixture cannot take place as planned. PRO14 Rugby can also confirm that Scarlets, who Benetton played in round three, have returned negative results from their PCR testing this week.”

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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 4, 2020