Saracens Women’s 2020/21 Round 7 and 8 Allianz Premier 15s matches against Exeter Chiefs Women and Harlequins Women have been postponed.
The RFU has made the decision to postpone the fixtures originally due to take place this weekend and next, after a Saracens player tested positive for COVID-19 [community acquired] and 10 other players are isolating as close contacts. There are also a number of Saracens players currently out injured or returning from injury.
This decision has been made after consultation between Saracens Women and the RFU using the detailed medical protocols in place to ensure that the health and wellbeing of all players and support staff is protected.
The Disputes Committee met and agreed that the two matches would be rescheduled on the next two reserve weekends in the calendar as follows, taking into consideration player availability for all clubs for each fixture:
· 2 January 2021 – Harlequins Women v Saracens Women, KO 3pm, The Stoop
· 30 January 2021 – Exeter Chiefs Women v Saracens Women, KO time to be confirmed
Saracens v Harlequins on 2 January 2021 will still be live streamed across England Rugby and Premier 15s channels.
RFU Head of Women’s performance, Nicky Ponsford said: “Given the positive test result along with other players isolating as well as out injured or returning from injury, the club do not feel confident they can field a side this weekend or next.
“Following discussions with all three clubs about rearranging the fixtures there were some concerns about player availability on each of the available weekends so the committee agreed the best approach was to schedule the Harlequins v Saracens match on 2 January and Exeter Chiefs v Saracens on 30 January.
“All Covid-19 protocols were followed by Saracens and the club alerted us to this at the earliest opportunity. We have been in dialogue with them throughout as well as with Exeter and Harlequins. We thank all the clubs for their co-operation and support in this matter.”
