Fiji "penalised" in Autumn Nations Cup

BBC wrote:France have been awarded a 28-0 victory after a Covid-19 outbreak among the Fiji squad caused Sunday's Autumn Nations Cup match to be cancelled.

"If a team is primarily responsible for a match not taking place, a 28-0 victory will be awarded to the opposition," read a statement.

The organisers added "no fault" had been attributed to Fiji and they were working to ensure Fiji can play safely.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/54973993


So why award a 28-0 win to France... Win, yes, but as I bolded the above, they say they will award a 28-0 victory if a team is responsible for a match not taking place, then add Fiji was not at fault.

Talk about contradiction... A win to France, I don't think anyone could argue, even given them a BP win, but to do it this way and then say it wasn't Fiji's fault is a complete mockery of the rules.

Yeah i saw this earlier and thought it wasnt right...

Quite wrong, in SA during the Super Rugby unlocked a cancelled match due to Covid was declared a draw, two other matches have been postponed, if they get cancelled it will be declared draws.

It is tough on the better teams, but thats how the cookie should crumble.

Even the RWC matches that was cancelled due to the typhoon were draws ?

Well its fijian players who cant play hence France get the points. Same as in the prem last seasoon

I am assuming the result is only relevant to the ANC

Fiji have 29 positive cases apparently and their game this weekend is called off.

If it's both teams, or a natural disaster, then fair enough - draw. But Fiji failed to turn up to the fixture, admittedly due to health reasons, but in many ways it's no different to not simply not fulfilling the fixture. I can see why the decision has been made. If it were both teams, draw. If it's just one team, don't penalise the side that was ready to play.

bsando wrote:Fiji have 29 positive cases apparently and their game this weekend is called off.

What a mess.

Think some of you have missed the point I was making.. which is..

The rules say...

If a team is primarily responsible for a match not taking place, a 28-0 victory will be awarded to the opposition

but they went on to say...."The organisers added "no fault" had been attributed to Fiji ".. So if NOT Fiji's fault, it should not be an automatic 28-0.

If they had said, it was Fiji's fault by not taking appropriate Covid precautions, or something of the like, key thing putting the fault at Fiji's door, then the rules state 28-0. May still be unfair, but they are the rules. But the key point is they are saying its not Fiji's fault. ie, they are contradicting their rules.

As this weeks game is off, I guess they will have to award a 28-0 victory to Italy as well. Scotland must be hoping they wont get to play Fiji, as if they dont win with a BP, it could come back to haunt them. Not sure this tournament is going to be the success all hoped for.

No9 wrote:Think some of you have missed the point I was making.. which is..

The rules say...

If a team is primarily responsible for a match not taking place, a 28-0 victory will be awarded to the opposition

but they went on to say...."The organisers added "no fault" had been attributed to Fiji ".. So if NOT Fiji's fault, it should not be an automatic 28-0.

If they had said, it was Fiji's fault by not taking appropriate Covid precautions, or something of the like, key thing putting the fault at Fiji's door, then the rules state 28-0. May still be unfair, but they are the rules. But the key point is they are saying its not Fiji's fault. ie, they are contradicting their rules.

As this weeks game is off, I guess they will have to award a 28-0 victory to Italy as well. Scotland must be hoping they wont get to play Fiji, as if they dont win with a BP, it could come back to haunt them. Not sure this tournament is going to be the success all hoped for.

Didnt miss it. The match is called off because Fiji can't put out their team due to covid. If they've maintained protocols and not breached like the Barbarians it's not their fault. So both are true.

Surely 'fault' is just a legal term? They're still 'primarily responsible', but they're not at 'fault', thus cannot suffer the repercussions of, for instance, failing to turn up due to being hungover. The devil's in the linguistic detail.

In any case, it's a massive shame to not see Fiji playing. I fully expected them to claim a few scalps in this tournament. Now that seems unlikely. Hopefully their players/staff all deal with the illness and don't suffer many of the issues associated with it.

rugby racing and beer wrote:In any case, it's a massive shame to not see Fiji playing. I fully expected them to claim a few scalps in this tournament. Now that seems unlikely. Hopefully their players/staff all deal with the illness and don't suffer many of the issues associated with it.

Totally agree....huge shame for all their talented players to miss out.

bsando wrote:Fiji have 29 positive cases apparently and their game this weekend is called off.

Perhaps the only match they will be able to play is the one against (probably) Georgia at the end.

Doesn't really matter whether it's 28-0 or set as draws.
They'll miss all three pool matches so all other sides in the pool will receive 5 points from it as how can they field a team for any of the rounds with a camp that has 29 positive cases.
How can any of those players get back to club games anytime soon.

What's the likelihood of Fiji being able to field a side for Georgia in the end. Feel sorry for Georgia missing out on game time. Would they benefit from a match that weekend against one of Irish Wolfhounds / England Saxons / etc?

thebandwagonsociety wrote:Doesn't really matter whether it's 28-0 or set as draws.
They'll miss all three pool matches so all other sides in the pool will receive 5 points from it as how can they field a team for any of the rounds with a camp that has 29 positive cases.
How can any of those players get back to club games anytime soon.

What's the likelihood of Fiji being able to field a side for Georgia in the end.  Feel sorry for Georgia missing out on game time. Would they benefit from a match that weekend against one of Irish Wolfhounds / England Saxons / etc?

Can you imagine the fury from the Prem clubs if the RFU told them they would be needing to call up 50 players for a double header that weekend. Most clubs aren't happy by the crack handed international window organisation as it is.

I hope the Fiji squad overcome their Covid issues quickly and can take part in at least one game.