Details are emerging of just what Cardiff’s lockdown regime in their Cape Town hotel looks like.
They are confined to their rooms, with food being brought to them, and they are having to exercise using YouTube videos.
The Arms Park outfit have been unable to leave South Africa due to two positive Covid cases in their camp, one of them suspected to be the new Omicron strain.
They travelled to the airport in Cape Town on Sunday with a charter plane having been secured to fly them to Dublin, along with the Scarlets, Munster and Zebre.
But once the news of the suspected Omicron case came through, the medical advice was they had to turn around and go back to their hotel to isolate.
Munster were unable to leave either following a positive case.
However, the Irish government have now announced they are able to head home, aside from the one positive case and a close contact.
There has been no such green light from either the UK or Welsh government for Cardiff, leaving them in an uncertain situation.
They face the possibility of having to spend an extended spell in isolation in Cape Town, followed by a further 10 days in hotel quarantine in the UK on their eventual return.
Their two positive Covid cases have been taken to a separate specialist quarantine hotel in Cape Town and are said to be feeling well and in good spirits.
As for the main group, they have not been able to leave their rooms for exercise since returning to their hotel from the airport.
So it’s been a case of trying to find other innovative ways of keeping them active.
“We still need to get exercise into these lads,” said rugby operations manager Gafyn Cooper.
“So our head of performance has been designing all manner of in-room activities, exercises and You Tube videos to get them activated and keep them moving.
“We are also arranging for equipment to be brought in to do as much as we can in our rooms.”
An entertainment committee has been set up to look at all manner of things from Zoom quizzes to FaceTime calls as the players look to pass the time in different ways.
On an encouraging note, the main group undertook a round of PCR testing on Sunday night and the results have come back negative.
As for the two positive cases, Cooper said: “The policy here is to remove them from the team hotel and the team environment.
“They have been taken to a specialist quarantine hotel in Cape Town and are isolating there.
“They are being very well looked after and the rest of the squad and the staff here are in touch with them nearly every hour.
“They are in good spirits, they feel well, that’s the important thing and that will reassure everyone back home that they are okay.”
Commenting on the main group, Cooper said: “At the moment we are all self-isolating in the team hotel practising a hard quarantine.
"The priority is to keep everybody safe and get us back home as quickly as possible.
“What that looks like on the other side is the unknown right now.
“There is a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes with people working through the night to try and get us back home.
“We have been getting messages from the rugby world, particularly our own league. We have had loads of support.
“That is reassuring and does make a big difference to all the players and the staff that are out here.”
Cardiff are hoping that when they do eventually return from South Africa, they will be able to undertake their ten-day hotel quarantine in Wales at a base where they can isolate while still training.
The Scarlets, who are currently quarantining in a Belfast hotel after flying into Dublin, are similarly seeking Welsh government help to switch to a base back home.
