Toulouse Olympique’s home fixture with York City Knights, scheduled for Saturday 11 September, has been cancelled.
France remains on the UK Government’s ‘amber list’, which means that anyone returning from France who isn’t fully vaccinated must isolate for at least five days on their return. In line with the RFL Board’s previous decision, part time teams are therefore not required to play in France due to the impact on their jobs outside of Rugby League.
This decision, however, applies to the regular season only and Toulouse will play at home in the Betfred Championship play-offs.
Toulouse have yet to play at their home ground in 2021, having played two ‘home’ matches against Widnes Vikings and Swinton Lions in England. The club continues to fulfil away fixtures as scheduled, with their players required to quarantine (other than for training) for seven days on their return to France.
In 2021 the Betfred Championship is being contested on a ‘points percentage’ basis due to the ongoing threat of postponements and cancellations presented by the pandemic. Points percentage is calculated by the number of matches won by a club, divided by the number of matches played, multiplied by 50.
Although clubs are required to have played 70% of their scheduled fixtures to be eligible for the play-offs, the RFL Board has previously ruled that Toulouse Olympique matches postponed as a result of the current quarantine regulations will not count as cancelled for either Toulouse or their opponents. Neither Toulouse nor York City Knights will be penalised for circumstances beyond their control.
