Bath’s European Champions Cup match against Toulon, postponed because of the terror attacks in Paris, will never be played, according to the club’s chairman, Bruce Craig.
The match was originally scheduled to be played in Toulon on Sunday afternoon but was one of five games called off the day before after Friday’s atrocities in the French capital.
Craig, who is on the board of European Professional Club Rugby, which is looking at the various rescheduling options, believes the congestion of the calendar caused by the Rugby World Cup and England’s tour to Australia next summer will make it impossible to find a slot for the game.
“It is very clear to me that the Toulon match cannot happen,” Craig told the Daily Telegraph. “The midweek option is not an option to my mind. That would be to the detriment of player welfare and the integrity of two competitions.
“There is no way we should be letting that happen. You can’t play three high-profile games in a week.”
Craig added that in the wider context of the events in Paris the problem of rescheduling “is not a serious matter”. He said there were no free weekends between now and the end of the season and criticised the fact England are touring Australia at the end of a World Cup season. The players are “like lambs to the slaughter”, he said. “They are just being destroyed.”
The problem has been aggravated by the delayed start to the domestic English season. The leagues in France and the Pro12 started before the Aviva Premiership.
Craig, a multimillionaire and philanthropist, bought the club from Andrew Brownsword five years ago.
