The Vodacom Bulls’ hopes of capturing the Carling Currie Cup took a blow when their match against Tafel Lager Griquas was called off because of a number of Covid-19 positive tests among players.

And their match next week in the competition against the Xerox Lions is also under threat, with the entire squad quarantined and several players placed in isolation after testing positive for at least 10 days.

While other games have already been called off this season, this is the first time it hits the leaders of the competition, and opens up some interesting debates over the next few weeks.

For one, the Bulls have a five point lead at the top of the standings, and the cancellation of the game will mean that they take two points from a game they would normally be targeting for a victory.

This opens the door for the Cell C Sharks, who are in second place, and technically, before this weekend have two games in hand with seven points to make up. Essentially if they win those two games they can overtake the Bulls and make the final weeks in the lead-up to the playoffs look very interesting indeed.

Bulls CEO Edgar Rathbone said it was unfortunate but part of what teams are currently dealing with in the pandemix.

“It is unfortunate that it has hit us now, it was probably expected that somewhere along the line you would be affected. There were a few positive cases on Tuesday, and this meant some retesting on Wednesday. When a few additional cases were identified, through the protocols of the NICD the game was cancelled,”he said in a Zoom interview.

Rathbone wouldn’t be drawn into who was tested positive, but it is believed that it is both coaching staff and players and with the 10 day period likely to come to pass shortly before the Lions game, it must be in doubt given the situation.

“I don’t think it’s important to know the numbers right now, obviously it must be substantial for the NICD to call a game off, as we have seen with previous matches in the Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked.

“We test on a Tuesday morning, and get results on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. We did no training on Monday and Tuesday, which limited the risk of further spread. Per NICD you need to do further testing and when more tests came back as positive, we needed to act.

“For 10 days the affected persons must be isolated and the squad is in quarantine. We will do further testing now on Monday morning and will obviously only be able to make a call following that testing.

“In terms of SA Rugby protocol it is important that the positive cases infiltrates your front row, then your contact tracing becomes a bit more complicated, and that is normally where matches get called off.

“It’s tough to say right now, we will only be able to make a call after the testing is done.”

SA Rugby said in a release the game had been termed a draw.

“As a result of the cancellation of the match, the encounter will be declared a draw and the teams will each receive two log points.

“The other two Carling Currie Cup matches scheduled for this weekend between the Phakisa Pumas and Toyota Cheetahs in Nelspruit on Friday, and the Xerox Lions v the Cell C Sharks in Durban on Saturday are unaffected.”