Six Nations latest: Quarantine exemptions granted for Wales and Scotland games in Paris

Fears that travel restrictions in France would derail the upcoming Guinness Six Nations matches in Paris featuring Scotland and Wales have been allayed for now after the French government admitted it is possible for the teams led by Gregor Townsend and Wayne Pivac to get the necessary exemption to avoid quarantine. 

Six Nations CEO Ben Morel had revealed on Wednesday at the virtual media launch of this year's tournament that there were still doubts over the staging of the two planned matches in Paris due to quarantine rules.

Due to the health crisis, the rules surrounding admission into France insisted on a week in isolation for anyone arriving there including elite sports teams, a restriction that would have made it impossible for the Scots and the Welsh to respectively play there on February 28 and March 20.  

An exemption for elite sports had still not been received by Morel and his fellow Six Nations organisers in midweek when he spoke at the tournament launch. However, it has since emerged that quarantine exemptions will be granted for Scotland and Wales to play their away Six Nations games against France - provided the pandemic doesn't worsen in the weeks leading up to those matches.  

L'Equipe have reported that the crisis unit in France in charge of handing the pandemic have now decided to grant the necessary exemptions for the two teams to travel to Paris. A path was also cleared for Fabien Galthie's team to fulfil their away games, starting in Rome on February 6 and following up with February 14 and March 13 assignments in Dublin and London respectively.    

“We have provided all our protocols,” said Morel on Wednesday. “We have been considered as extremely robust and we are seeking some of the clarification on the specific rules about quarantine exemptions, which would look at entry from the UK, whether it is re-entry for the French teams or entry for the other unions.

“We have reinforced our testing protocols, with the main point being we are doubling up on the testing and in the week prior to entering the international camp. Generally, elite sports benefit from widespread exemptions and what we are awaiting is the detail on the exemption. At the same time, we’re confident, based on our protocols, that will be a positive outcome.”