- Various tournaments threatened by Covid-related crowd caps
- ‘Anything that can raise revenue is preferable’ says Baxter
Rugby officials are still locked in crunch talks which will dictate whether the Six Nations and European club competitions can withstand the latest wave of Covid-19 infections. Several clubs are pleading for clarity as they seek to finalise travel plans to the continent next week, while Exeter’s director of rugby, Rob Baxter, believes the sport should consider playing the entire Six Nations in England if strict crowd restrictions remain elsewhere.
The latest word is that Six Nations organisers are prepared to wait until Monday week before making a final decision on how best to proceed if attendance restrictions in Wales, Ireland, Scotland and France stay in place. Playing the championship behind closed doors for a second successive year would be financially grim for everyone but no formal contingency plans are yet in place to switch, say, Welsh or Scottish home fixtures to alternative venues such as Newcastle, Coventry or Tottenham.