Durban — United Rugby Championship CEO Martin Anayi has come up with an eyebrow-raising explanation for the calling of two matches at the weekend, the Sharks versus Ulster game in Durban and the Lions versus Glasgow in Johannesburg.
Almost nobody saw it coming that Ulster and Glasgow could have brought their sickness with them and most folk blamed the gastroenteritis outbreak on either Durban’s septic sea or on contaminated tap water.
But Anayi turned the speculation upside down when he told the media at a round-table discussion that Glasgow and Ulster may have “brought the bugs” with them to South Africa.
“Early indications are that there were two separate bugs, one E coli (Glasgow) and the other Norovirus (Ulster), and there are some indications that they actually brought the bugs with them. So, there’s quite a lot to go into …
“It is incredibly disappointing for everyone concerned that the matches didn’t take place,” Anayi said. “The Sharks had all their Boks available and they would have been able to put on a big show on and off the field — they had a really fantastic fan zone (for their annual Sharkfest) and had really invested in it.
“The reality is we took medical advice. The view very clearly from an independent doctor was that we had two very sick squads. And there was no opportunity to delay the game by 24 to 48 hours.”
“Our rules do state, however, that the games should be replayed which is why the matches are listed as having been postponed.”
The investigation into the unsavoury episode has not been concluded but if the findings back up Anayi’s suggestion that the tourists are at fault for their getting sick, Durban’s eThekwini Municipality will jump for joy — it was very much Durban’s sewage crisis that was blamed by the public for the gastro epidemic.
IOL Sport