Doncaster and Rochdale games postponed due to coronavirus

Josh McAllister 20 Jul 2021 4:35 PM

Two Betfred League 1 fixtures this weekend have fallen victim to the rise in Covid-19 infections.

Doncaster and Rochdale both have more than seven of their top-25 players in isolation, either after testing positive or becoming close contacts, allowing them to ask the Rugby Football League for a postponement of their home matches against North Wales Crusaders and Workington respectively.

There are also doubts over this weekend’s Super League fixtures featuring last Saturday’s Challenge Cup finalists, with Castleford and St Helens both thought to have reported positive tests.

St Helens, who were victorious at Wembley, are due to host Hull KR on Friday while Castleford are scheduled to play Catalans Dragons in Perpignan on Saturday.

Friday’s round 15 fixture between Leigh and Warrington was called off on Monday after the Wolves reported another positive test, on top of the ones that caused the postponement of their previous game against Hull KR.

Hull KR hinted at a postponement when they cancelled coach Tony Smith’s weekly press conference at 40 minutes’ notice while St Helens announced the closure of the club’s ticket office for the rest of the day due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Rochdale announced a total of 11 players and three staff all tested positive for Covid-19 at different times over the last 10 days and have closed down training until Thursday.

The League 1 clubs will liaise with the RFL over possible rearrangements, although the table, as in the Championship and Super League, will be determined by win points percentage to allow for the possibility of not all fixtures being fulfilled.