Six Nations matches that have to be postponed due to Covid outbreaks will be replayed at the earliest opportunity.
This year’s championship will take place with the highly-infectious Omicron variant still present among the competing nations.
Though case numbers are dropping, tournament CEO Ben Morel insisted teams have to remain vigilant in order to avoid such outbreaks.
Last year, France v Scotland had to be rearranged the week after the scheduled final weekend of the tournament due to an outbreak in the French camp and the required period of isolation at the time.
It proved a logistical nightmare with issues surrounding player release for the match because the game fell outside the designated Test window.
There were also questions over fairness, with Les Bleus knowing exactly what they had to do in order to pip Wales to the title.
If games have to be rescheduled, Morel insisted they would be played as soon as possible and says the reduced period of mandatory isolation will help.
“We’ve got postponement opportunities as back-ups but last year we couldn’t use those fallow weekends because, at that time, we had quite a long period of isolation for the players, which is now reduced,” he said.
“That makes things, hopefully, a little easier to manage. Obviously we’ve also got vaccination here, so we are confident.
“Last year we had to play on an additional weekend after the conclusion of the Championship but we will do everything we can to play the games on the day they are supposed to be played.
He added: “What I’ve learned is that there is so much scenario planning you can do. You need to be ready for any kind of circumstances.
“What we will do is schedule any match at the soonest possible time. What that time is depends on many different circumstances. But hopefully everything will work as planned.”
The prospect of awarding points to the opposing team in the event of a Covid outbreak was not raised by Morel.
Given the reduced isolation periods, it should mean that fallow weeks are able to be used for rescheduled matches.
The real nightmare for tournament organisers is if a team suffers an outbreak during the last two rounds of the competition.
It remains to be seen if leagues and clubs would be prepared to release players for out-of-window matches for a second year running.
That scenario could mean teams having to fit fixtures in around their summer tours later this year, which is a particularly undesirable outcome for tournament chiefs as it delays the conclusion.
“We absolutely need to remain extremely vigilant,” insisted Morel. “Last year we were operating in lockdowns. So while the virus prevalence was high, the interaction was low.
“This is a very different set of circumstances with a highly contagious virus, more contagious than ever, with interactions that are trickier for us to manage.
“We’ve adapted our protocols but also realise we might be facing some of these issues.
“We are doing everything we can to limit those interactions and testing extremely regularly. We are hopeful that we will be able to manage and avoid those outbreaks.
“History has told us that we need to be ready for anything and we will do absolutely everything we can to stage the matches on the dates they are scheduled.
“We are confident in our protocols but should it impact beyond then we have several ways of dealing with it.”
Wales rookie Christ Tshiunza tested positive for the virus during a screening process on the first day of camp this week, serving as a reminder that we are not out of the woods yet.
Thankfully all other Wales players and staff members have tested negative and preparations are continuing largely unaffected.
England prop Joe Marler is also currently isolating after testing positive for the virus.
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