Cardiff Rugby boss Dai Young says his side will need certain assurances before travelling back to play matches in South Africa.
The Blue and Blacks were stranded last month when the UK Government moved South Africa onto the red travel list at short notice, following the discovery of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.
They - along with the Scarlets - were left scrambling to get out of the country. The bulk of their touring part managed to secure a flight home almost a week after the saga came to light, with players isolating in their rooms during the interim period.
They also had to complete a 10-day isolation at Gatwick airport when they arrived in the UK.
Six members of the touring party had to stay behind and complete a quarantine in a South African government hotel after contracting the virus.
They had to also complete a quarantine upon arrival in the UK and have only just been reunited with their families.
On the day the full senior squad returned to training, the United Rugby Championship announced that the postponed fixtures from the troubled South Africa trip - Cardiff were due to face the Lions and the Stormers - are to be rearranged for the final two weekends of the Six Nations.
But Young revealed they will be seeking guarantees before they travel again.
“We’ll take a bit of convincing, to be quite honest," said Young.
“The onus is on the URC, really, to convince us that it’s the right thing to do.
“I know they’ve come out and made a statement that we’re going back there but first and foremost we’d need guarantees that if something did happen, we’d get out of there.
“The British Government showed their hand and the Welsh Government showed their hand. We were pretty much stranded out there.
“It was very difficult for us to get out of the country.
“Once is probably bad luck, twice is a bit stupid really, isn’t it.”
Offering a players' perspective, Josh Turnbull added: “At the moment, there’s a little bit of disappointment that they’ve just come out and said: ‘you’ve got to go back and play them’.
“As players, we want reassurances that there are going to be things in place to look after us.
“It’s important that the players and staff aren’t hung out to dry like it felt like we were last time.
“It’s important for the URC to get clarity on what happens and there are assurances in place that if X, Y or Z happens, then we can get out of there.
“That’s the priority.
“Ultimately, we want to play the games against the best teams but we also want to know that players and staff are going to be safe as well.
“If they want these games to go ahead, they have to make sure that there are contingency plans in place, that we won’t have to do 20 days of quarantine and that we’re all safe.
"The mental toll on families and players is massive at the moment."
As a result of the required quarantine and injuries, Cardiff went into Champions Cup matches against defending champions Toulouse and English champions Harlequins with 42 players missing.
A thrown-together team of Wales stars that didn't travel to South Africa, semi-pro players and academy boys performed superbly and captured the imagination of onlookers far and wide.
But ultimately they suffered heavy defeats and are now all but out of the tournament.
During their nightmare trip, Cardiff received support from the South African Rugby Union and players were provided with training equipment to try and do some form of exercise in their rooms.
Young sympathised with the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers, who are making their debut in the tournament this year, but said it would be 'silly' for Cardiff to end up in the same circumstances.
"The South African Rugby Union was fantastic," added Young.
“This is certainly not a slight on anything South African. They were excellent and any way they could help us, they helped us.
“We certainly feel for them because it’s unfair for them to be in a competition where they’re expected to play all their games away from home. I get that totally.
“But on a personal level and I’m sure the players would echo these thoughts, we understand the league but it would be silly for us to put ourselves back in that same predicament of going out there without any guarantees that if the worst happened, we could get home.
“URC have to find a way of giving us those guarantees. I don’t really see how they can expect us to go out there when there is a possibility of us being stuck out there again.”
Want the latest Welsh rugby news sent straight to you? Look no further.
