Moana Pasifika v Western Force - POSTPONED

[RugbyReg]

Super Round Melbourne match, Moana Pasifika versus Western Force, postponed due to COVID-19.

The Super Rugby Pacific Round 10 match between Moana Pasifika and the Western Force has been postponed due to COVID-19 impacts on the Western Force squad.

The Super Rugby Pacific Medical Advisory Group made the decision to postpone the match, scheduled for this Friday 22 April as part of Super Round Melbourne, due to a large number of the Force squad being unavailable for selection.

The Super Rugby Pacific tournament is very disappointed to have to postpone another game this season and for it to be impossible to play all six contemplated matches as part of this weekend’s Super Round, but the decision was made with the best interests for the health and wellbeing of players and staff in mind.

Every effort was made to try to ensure this game could go ahead as part of Super Round Melbourne, but with a large contingent of the Western Force squad unavailable, it simply wasn’t feasible.

Super Round Melbourne still promises to be an incredible, historic weekend for the competition, with five Super Rugby Pacific matches and the Australian Super W final all taking place at AAMI Park in Melbourne.

SANZAAR will now work with all stakeholders to find a suitable date for the postponed match to take place.

Affected ticket holders for the Friday 22 April event will be contacted by Ticketek regarding their tickets.

 

[Dan54]

Geez has MP (Moana Pasifika) done something to upset someone??
More importantly hope all at WF are ok.

 

[Tazzmania]

Tony Lewis on Rugby.com.au

The Western Force has medically reported considerable numbers of COVID-19 cases within the squad, which under Rugby Australia protocols means they are not available for selection,” Force CEO Tony Lewis said. "We have worked closely with Rugby Australia High Performance to firstly protect the integrity of the Western Force club and Super Rugby Pacific. We have made every effort possible to assist in making this game go ahead. Despite looking at multiple player replacement options, the number of players affected is simply too great.

“We’d like to thank Moana Pasifika for their understanding, and we look forward to meeting them at a later date

 

[qwerty51]

Cheers Mark McGowan.

 

[7137]

Geez has MP (Moana Pasifika) (Moana Pasifika) done something to upset someone??
More importantly hope all at WF are ok.

After so many recent games, I actually think MP (Moana Pasifika) could probably use the break.

 

[Rebel man]

Terrible call, they have to keep the show on the road. Look at the West Coast Eagles in the AFL. To say it can’t be done is to make excuses

 

[Dismal Pillock]

Shiggers hears match postponement news on the
radio, abruptly cancels Melbourne road trip and
heads straight back to Perth:

"Fine then, fuckyuz c*****".

 

[Dan54]

After so many recent games, I actually think MP (Moana Pasifika) (Moana Pasifika) could probably use the break.

Had thought that, but probably means another catch up game for them.

 

[Dan54]

Terrible call, they have to keep the show on the road. Look at the West Coast Eagles in the AFL. To say it can’t be done is to make excuses

Depends who has it, you can't just carry on if a too many forwards etc are out, rugby is a pretty violent/physical game, and you can't fill out teams with kids etc.

 

[Rebel man]

Depends who has it, you can't just carry on if a too many forwards etc are out, rugby is a pretty violent/physical game, and you can't fill out teams with kids etc.

Bring players up from the level below. They can’t keep canceling games

 

[Dan54]

Bring players up from the level below. They can’t keep canceling games

Yep, but safety still has to play a part, and bringing up players from below can be risky. Player safety must come into play, and I have no doubt Force are not doing this lightly.
Though I understand your frustration, sometimes playing game isn't the most important thing.

 

[7137]

Had thought that, but probably means another catch up game for them.

In all likelihood by the back end of the season it may be apparent that neither side is making the top eight. So they could avoid squeezing it in mid week and just play in finals week for points on the ladder (and pride)

 

[Dan54]

In all likelihood by the back end of the season it may be apparent that neither side is making the top eight. So they could avoid squeezing it in mid week and just play in finals week for points on the ladder (and pride)

Would be sensible to me too 7137.

 

[Tazzmania]

Terrible call, they have to keep the show on the road. Look at the West Coast Eagles in the AFL. To say it can’t be done is to make excuses

They have more than twenty four affected players and staff, under what circumstances would you have liked them to field a team and keep the integrity of the comp and the western force in tact?

 

[Kevin77]

If you want to see what a team can do when affected by COVID

 

[qwerty51]

If you want to see what a team can do when affected by COVID

Ummm Wasps were missing more players.

 

[Dan54]

Aaron Mauger pised at Force for not giving them any warning. He say MP (Moana Pasifika) has had to miss games, but they alsways let other team know that there could be a problem early in week, as he says they arrived in Melbourne before anyone had the decency to let them know.
Afraid to say I do agree with him, a nit of disrespect and I have to say ForceSanzaar or whoever management may perhaps think it could of been handled better.

 

[SteveWA]

Not giving warning that your players were going to test positive in a few days?

 

[Braveheart81]

Not giving warning that your players were going to test positive in a few days?

I think it's a case that the game was postponed while Moana were in flight. It seems pretty reasonable that the Force didn't go from having no issues to being completely unable to play the game in the space of a couple of hours.

Of course, maybe they had let SANZAAR know there were significant issues and that message wasn't passed along soon enough.

 

[Tazzmania]

Aaron Mauger pised at Force for not giving them any warning. He say MP (Moana Pasifika) (Moana Pasifika) has had to miss games, but they alsways let other team know that there could be a problem early in week, as he says they arrived in Melbourne before anyone had the decency to let them know.
Afraid to say I do agree with him, a nit of disrespect and I have to say ForceSanzaar or whoever management may perhaps think it could of been handled better.

Decision was not made by the Force:

The Super Rugby Pacific Medical Advisory Group made the decision to postpone the match, scheduled for this Friday 22 April as part of Super Round Melbourne, due to a large number of the Force squad being unavailable for selection........,

"The Western Force has medically reported considerable numbers of COVID-19 cases within the squad, which under Rugby Australia protocols means they are not available for selection,” Force CEO Tony Lewis said. "We have worked closely with Rugby Australia High Performance to firstly protect the integrity of the Western Force club and Super Rugby Pacific. We have made every effort possible to assist in making this game go ahead. Despite looking at multiple player replacement options, the number of players affected is simply too great.

“We’d like to thank Moana Pasifika for their understanding, and we look forward to meeting them at a later date

Read More on Rugby.com.au

I beleive up to 24 Players and Staff were affected, and due to time difference (4 hours) between NZ and WA, Moana pasika had probably started their Melbourne journey when it happened.