Covid setback is ‘unfortunate’, but it was inevitable, says Bulls CEO

It’s been a tough week in the office for Bulls CEO Edgar Rathbone, with positive Covid tests materialising on Tuesday and their Currie Cup match against Griquas this weekend in Kimberley called off on Thursday due to the spread of the virus within the Bulls squad and management.

“It’s unfortunate that it has hit us now, but to be honest it was probably to be expected somewhere down the line,” Rathbone said on Thursday.

“We had a few positives on Tuesday, which meant re-tests on Wednesday and that threw up additional cases and the game had to be cancelled. The numbers are not important but obviously they are substantial enough for the NICD to call the match off.

“Fortunately we did not train on Monday or Tuesday so that limited the risk of the spread. But for 10 days the infected must be isolated.”

Further tests will be conducted on Monday morning and the Bulls will make a call on next week only after that.

“So at the moment it’s tough to say whether we can play the Lions on Boxing Day,” Rathbone said.

“If the virus has infiltrated the front row then things become more complicated.”

It seems inevitable that when the Bulls do get back on to the park, they will have to complete their Currie Cup charge with a weakened team. The two points from the cancelled Griquas game – when they might have expected five – means the Sharks will close to within two points with a game in hand if they beat the Lions with a bonus point on Saturday.

“We need to trust our squad depth and I believe only a number of infections in the front row could possibly make it impossible for us to fulfil fixtures,” Rathbone said.

“Obviously the team are disappointed not to be playing this weekend, but there are mixed feelings because they are obviously also concerned over their team-mates’ well-being because unfortunately a few of them are showing some symptoms.

“But the Griquas match had to be cancelled as a draw because if you look at the calendar and the number of weeks left it’s very difficult to find a space to postpone the game to. And we have to be consistent and keep parity between the teams who have also had fixtures called off.”

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