Ulster v Leinster Sat 29th 19:35

[riocard911]

Chill pill all round everyone. The world as always has split into two camps, the bedwetting lock everything down brigade zero covid is the only answer v the it's a madey up Bill Gates get us all vaccinated conspiracy theory brigade....

The reality of course is slightly more nuanced.....

Anyone is likely to catch this virus as it is now embedded in the human population assuming they have any form of contact with other humans. Bar locking an entire provincial rugby setup (and that means everyone from players to coaches to all support staff) in a hermetically sealed box this is gonna happen....considering they are all being tested every 5 seconds cases will appear..........munster and ulster already, only a matter of time before we see it happen in Leinster and Connacht I am sure.

In time we can only hope that a degree of balance comes into the debate and we start to look at the real and actual risk of this virus and accept that bar totally impractical measures that will do unbelievable damage this virus ain't going anywhere.....until then we will just have to struggle on, turning into a nation of curtain twitching heretical burn the offenders is doing nothing but turning us into a very unpleasant bunch.....

+1

[wixfjord]

Not sure how things are being controlled, but it appears that all close contacts of a confirmed case are being isolated for 14 days despite the testing?

With the case in Munster that is how it worked going off what was in the papers?
Perhaps someone else has more insight into the IRFU procedures?

But from what we know, no Connacht players are close contacts of a confirmed case.

[munster#1]

Not sure how things are being controlled, but it appears that all close contacts of a confirmed case are being isolated for 14 days despite the testing?

With the case in Munster that is how it worked going off what was in the papers?
Perhaps someone else has more insight into the IRFU procedures?

But from what we know, no Connacht players are close contacts of a confirmed case.

Very true, that was just early speculation, and I did not claim to have insight into the situation.
As I don’t know who the players are, I didn’t know if he played against Connacht or not.

The post that you quote was actually a question into the policy rather than a claim.

[munster#1]

On a more serious note, hopefully the affected players and their loved ones are safe and well.

Many of the players will have children and elderly relatives that they are in close contact with on a daily basis that may have compromised immune systems.

Rugby is just a game, far worse things can happen than a few games being cancelled or postponed.

[allezlesverres]

With the positive tests of a number of Ulster academy players just announced this evening, the match going ahead could into doubt.

It will depend on the contact tracing and testing process. At the minute they are only suggesting one senior squad member has been contact traced to be at risk (the rule is if you had close contact indoors with someone within 48hrs of their positive test). That one senior squad member must now self isolate for 14 days from their last contact with the infected person. That means that squad member is not available for the match. By now I suspect that person will have had a test which must have been negative so even if that senior squad member has been in close contact with the rest of the senior squad, no one else should have to self isolate.

Of course, there is still the routine testing IRFU process which is due to be reported tomorrow I think. Assuming that comes back clear, the game will proceed (and Ulster will just hope the senior squad member missing is not in a crucial position). If any of the team test positive, it is likely a huge portion will have to self isolate and that will cancel the game.

Someone above queried the need to self isolate after a negative test. I took that up with Public Health the week before last because I had to self isolate notwithstanding a negative test. Their response was that negative test results aren't totally reliable (their estimate is 70-80% reliable) because the person may be developing the virus but not yet have enough to register a positive test, or may be recovering from the virus and not have enough to register a positive test - hence the belt and braces self isolation approach.

This is likely to be a recurring problem unfortunately.

[Ruckedtobits]

With the positive tests of a number of Ulster academy players just announced this evening, the match going ahead could into doubt.

Someone above queried the need to self isolate after a negative test. I took that up with Public Health the week before last because I had to self isolate notwithstanding a negative test. Their response was that negative test results aren't totally reliable (their estimate is 70-80% reliable) because the person may be developing the virus but not yet have enough to register a positive test, or may be recovering from the virus and not have enough to register a positive test - hence the belt and braces self isolation approach.

This is likely to be a recurring problem unfortunately.

Totally accurate explanation and apparently proven as a 'real risk' in the case of one of the Stade Francais players who, according to local media, tested + four days after a negative result and having spent the intervening days in monitored quarantine. Incubation period appears to be from 4-10 days subject to a number of variables.

Couple this reality with the confirmation from Hong Kong and Korea that rare cases of double-infection has occurred, there really is no absolute certainties with Covid-19.

[wixfjord]

Very true, that was just early speculation, and I did not claim to have insight into the situation.
As I don’t know who the players are, I didn’t know if he played against Connacht or not.

The post that you quote was actually a question into the policy rather than a claim.

No Ulster senior squad member has been flagged as positive, only academy players, and there were no academy players in the squad at the weekend.

So as it stands there's a remote chance (assuming this cluster actually developed before Sunday) that some of the Connacht players could be close contacts of the Ulster senior squad member who is a close contact of someone who has the virus.

That's not reason to call off a game imo, especially as all will be being tested regularly this week.

[munster#1]

Very true, that was just early speculation, and I did not claim to have insight into the situation.
As I don’t know who the players are, I didn’t know if he played against Connacht or not.

The post that you quote was actually a question into the policy rather than a claim.

No Ulster senior squad member has been flagged as positive, only academy players, and there were no academy players in the squad at the weekend.

So as it stands there's a remote chance (assuming this cluster actually developed before Sunday) that some of the Connacht players could be close contacts of the Ulster senior squad member who is a close contact of someone who has the virus.

That's not reason to call off a game imo, especially as all will be being tested regularly this week.

I’m not disputing that as I, like most, do not know the facts.
Additionally I haven’t stated that any matches should be called off.

[alanair]

oh god

Harsh Dave

[alanair]

Gavin Cummiskey reporting the match is set to go ahead: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... 1?mode=amp

Maybe the first time Cummiskey has got something rugby related correct ??

[wixfjord]

I’m not disputing that as I, like most, do not know the facts.
Additionally I haven’t stated that any matches should be called off.

No, but you did 'suspect' that both games will be cancelled right?!

If Ulster players involved in the Connacht game are affected by this, then you’d have to suspect that both games will be cancelled this weekend.

[munster#1]

I’m not disputing that as I, like most, do not know the facts.
Additionally I haven’t stated that any matches should be called off.

No, but you did 'suspect' that both games will be cancelled right?!

If Ulster players involved in the Connacht game are affected by this, then you’d have to suspect that both games will be cancelled this weekend.

Have another read.
The post says “If Ulster players involved in the Connacht game are affected by this”

That is not the same as stating that the game should be cancelled if the affected players did not play in that match.

At the time of that post it was not clear, well from what I had read, just how many players were affected.

[joooooe]

Gavin Cummiskey reporting the match is set to go ahead: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... 1?mode=amp

Maybe the first time Cummiskey has got something rugby related correct ??

He might be correct about rugby a lot of the time, but you have decipher what it is he is trying to say.

[mildlyinterested]

IRFU confirm that there have been no positive Covid results in the Ulster senior squad.

Leinster all clear too.

Both provinces cleared for Saturday's game at the Aviva.

There were 8 positive Covid-19 cases in the Ulster academy.

[mildlyinterested]

One player in Ulster's senior squad was identified as a potential close contact of the 8 academy players.

He received a negative test result but will continue to self-isolate in line with public health advice.

All Ulster academy training remains suspended.

[ronk]

Chill pill all round everyone. The world as always has split into two camps, the bedwetting lock everything down brigade zero covid is the only answer v the it's a madey up Bill Gates get us all vaccinated conspiracy theory brigade....

The reality of course is slightly more nuanced.....

One side might not be 100% right and one side is 100% wrong. It’s not all that nuanced.

[Blueberry]

While I can see where you are coming from, the uncomfortable truth though is both sides on either extreme are equally insane and devoid of any common sense and can't face the reality of where we are.....

[Dave Cahill]

While I can see where you are coming from, the uncomfortable truth though is both sides on either extreme are equally insane and devoid of any common sense and can't face the reality of where we are.....

No, people who believe that they can catch a virus from radio waves, or that Bill Gates is going to kidnap us all for forced vaccination in pizza restaurants, are considerably more insane than pretty much anyone who isn't wearing a suit made out of human skin.

[Oldschoolsocks]

While I can see where you are coming from, the uncomfortable truth though is both sides on either extreme are equally insane and devoid of any common sense and can't face the reality of where we are.....

nope, you're painting a very false dichotomy here...

category 1: the ideal is a zero Covid world, the sensible majority are willing to put up with some level of discomfort - wearing masks when in indoor public areas, not shaking hands, washing hands at regular intervals etc...

category 2: there is a lunatic fringe, that probably watch too much barmy youtube or read too much bonkers twitter, who this it's a bit of a conspiracy.

category C: then there's a lot of people who just want thing to go back to normal and sometimes forget that the rules are there to keep everyone safe.

there's probably at least a few categories I've left out - feel free to add to the list





note category C in honour of the much missed Simon O'Keefe -

[Blueberry]

The reality of where we are is something I just don't think many people are prepared to accept atm.........insanity comes in many forms.

Suggest we get back to the match............and perhaps all agree it's better to not discuss Covid !!

Back to moaning about Clancy ??