Six Nations 2022: Prime Minister Mark Drakeford has “no criticism” of WRU

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Wales beat Australia to a full house at the Principality of Cardiff Stadium in November

Mark Drakeford says he has “no criticism” of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for considering playing Six Nations home games in England.

The Prime Minister announced on Friday that Covid-19 restrictions would not be relaxed in Wales, where fans are currently not allowed to attend matches.

Mr Drakeford said he “had no problem” with the WRU considering their options.

“I am not criticizing the WRU for exploring all the options available to them,” he told BBC Sport Wales.

Restrictions were placed on sporting events in Wales on December 22, meaning professional matches are being played behind closed doors.

Wales are due to host Scotland in Cardiff on February 12 and the WRU is discussing the possibility of moving games to England.

These talks are unlikely to be halted following Mr Drakeford’s announcement, as he said the peak of the Omicron wave was likely to be “in about 10 to 14 days”, and insisted the fact that those calling for the easing of Covid restrictions were “actually wrong”.

Mr Drakeford told BBC Sport Wales it was “questionable” whether the games would actually be moved, but said he had no problem with the actions of the WRU.

“It’s a business and as a responsible business it seems to me that they are required to look at all the different possibilities that are available to them,” he said.

“Whether they choose to go ahead and play games elsewhere with the undeniable risks that it would entail if we were still in the eye of the coronavirus storm, I think is a very debatable question. .

“But if I have a problem with them looking at the options available to them, no, I don’t.

“I think that’s perfectly legitimate for them as a multi-million pound organization that has to think about its business as well as its sporting interests.”

Any decision on hosting Six Nations games is unlikely to be resolved this month, with Mr Drakeford outlining what needs to happen before allowing fans to attend sporting events.

“We have to see the tide turning on the Omicron wave,” he said.

“Then if the model is accurate and we see the numbers dropping fast enough, then we’ll be able to see if it’s safe to see more social mix.

“The question under the microscope is whether we can do this [allow fans into stadiums] safely, if the number of people who get sick with the virus is so high that increasing that risk would be a responsible thing to do.

“We won’t know – I know it’s really tough when you’re hosting a major event – for a few weeks.”

As it stands, sporting events in England are unrestricted, with full stadiums for Premier League and League football matches.

However, Mr Drakeford accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of failing to take the necessary steps to protect people in England from Covid.

“The only country which is not taking any action to protect its people is England,” said the Prime Minister.

He added that England was the “outlier” in the UK when it came to Covid.

However, Mr Drakeford has said he will not criticize fans from Cardiff City, Swansea City, Newport County or Wrexham – who are currently in the unusual position of being able to watch their team in away games, but not at home. home – to get to matches, but urged them to be careful.

“I’ve been asked a lot of questions over the past few weeks, ‘Do I think people should do this, do I think people should do that?’ It is not for the government to micro-manage the individual decisions we make in our own lives, ”he added.

“What we ask people to do is think carefully and consciously about the decisions they make. If they choose to travel elsewhere, do so in a way that maximizes the chances that they will protect themselves and protect others.

“For some people the conclusion will be that the safest way is not to travel at all, so it’s not my place to tell people that you should do this or that they should do that.

“The basic advice is this – we are in the middle of the fastest growing coronavirus wave we’ve seen in this entire pandemic with a highly transmissible form of the virus that is making many people sick, 77,000 over the course of this pandemic. from the last week alone and these are just the people we know leading more people to hospital and we have seen people die from the Omicron variant just as they have died from other variants during the pandemic.

“This is the context in which people make their individual decisions and the advice of the Welsh government is to think hard, think hard and do everything to keep you and others safe.”

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