'Utterly shambolic' - Furious online reaction to Six Nations' last minute cancellation

Despite leaving it late, the Guinness Six Nations encounter between Wales and Scotland has eventually been postponed.

The Welsh Rugby Union even announced on Friday morning that the game was going ahead, which was based on government advice. This was made in the face of nearly every sporting event around the world being suspended due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

But the WRU revealed a change of plans hours later, saying in a statement: “Whilst medical advice remains consistent, we have decided that it is in the best interests of supporters, players and staff to fall in line with recent measures taken across the UK and global sports industries.”

Very few people have made the case that postponing the match is the wrong decision, as the vast majority of people thought it was absurd that the organisers of this match were standing firm after much of the United Kingdom was shutting down. But the timing of the announcement is truly bizarre.

https://twitter.com/candroo/status/1238478741027913728?s=20

Shambles that the Welsh Gov didn't tell WRU to cancel Wales v Scotland yesterday and a shambles that it was cancelled today after many fans had already travelled. Just an omnishambles all around.

— Ifan Morgan Jones (@ifanmj) March 13, 2020

Thousands of Welsh and Scottish fans would have already flocked to Cardiff to have this now sprung upon them. Meanwhile, English fans have known for over a week that their match with Italy has been suspended, and Irish fans found out at the beginning of the week that the contest against France in Paris was cancelled.

https://twitter.com/tonylewis92/status/1238466608940691456?s=20
https://twitter.com/parkern1996/status/1238479475865784320?s=20
https://twitter.com/xo_booboo_xo/status/1238406694880894976?s=20

There are seemingly only a handful of sporting events still going ahead in the United Kingdom this weekend, and it only seemed like a matter of time before this remaining Six Nations fixture was postponed. So leaving it so late has only caused major inconvenience, something many feel could have been easily avoided.

https://twitter.com/donnajwills/status/1238477630091001856?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhilipTipping/status/1238482524495581189?s=20

Perfectly timed to guarantee maximum inconvenience to travelling Scotland supporters. Should have called it off on Wednesday at the latest.

— Mark Gwilliam ??????? ?? (@merlin2709) March 13, 2020

Of course, there is not necessarily a protocol to follow in this situation, so it was always going to be a hard decision to make as to whether the game went ahead or not, particularly as there was nothing from the government to suggest postponement. But the longer it was left before cancelling the fixture, the more controversial it was going to be.

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