The Rugby Football Union is banking on supporters to self-police and stay away from Twickenham on Saturday if they have a confirmed case of Covid-19, or any symptoms, with no plans to check vaccine passes with restrictions in England to be lifted on Thursday.
The match on Saturday will be the first major international sporting event in England since restrictions were lifted with more than 80,000 supporters due at Twickenham. It will also be the first Six Nations match at Twickenham at full capacity since the same fixture two years ago, which took place just days before the UK was plunged into its first lockdown and with England’s subsequent trip to Italy already postponed.
Any fears around the fixture on Saturday will be heightened by the fact that England’s victory against South Africa in November – the last Test to take place at Twickenham – was initially highlighted as a possible epicentre for the UK’s Omicron outbreak and subsequent rise in cases.
During the autumn, the RFU conducted spot-checks for Covid vaccine passes – which all spectators were required to have – but from Thursday, the government has decreed that anyone with a confirmed case of Covid-19 in England is no longer legally required to self-isolate. The government continues to advise that anyone with a positive case stays at home but in the absence of a legal requirement, that advice could effectively be ignored.
An RFU spokesperson said: “With the lifting of government restrictions, we will not be carrying out mandatory NHS covid pass checks. However, we expect anyone with a confirmed case of covid or with covid symptoms to protect others and not attend the game.”
The RFU’s guidance for supporters also includes wearing a cloth face covering at all times as well as following good hygiene practices at all times in line with the latest government and public health guidance. Supporters with symptoms, or a positive covid case, will be able to sell their tickets via the RFU’s exchange programme until 5pm on Friday.
Meanwhile, the England squad will still be subject to existing Covid protocols for the remainder of the competition despite the lifting of restrictions. During the championship the Six Nations organisers are responsible for introducing uniform protocols and given different competing countries have different levels of restrictions it is not seen as viable to relax the measures imposed on Eddie Jones’s squad.
