Disputes Committee Decision: Harlequins Women vs Saracens Women (AP15s Round 8)

Saracens Women’s Allianz Premier 15s match against Harlequins Women at Twickenham Stoop has been cancelled with Sarries allocated five league points.

The Allianz Premier 15s Disputes Committee made the interim decision to postpone the round eight fixture between Harlequins Women and Saracens Women (originally scheduled to be played on Saturday 2nd January) until the next available weekend, after a Harlequins player tested positive for COVID-19 and the need to isolate 28 players in accordance with the contact tracing protocols.

Further to the Committee’s interim decision, an investigation was conducted to understand the reasons for the need to isolate such a large number of individuals. It was established that the club accepted it had breached the agreed Minimum Operating Standards that require that outdoor training sessions must be recorded to assist with the required contact tracing protocols. The Minimum Operating Standards have been put in place to ensure that the health and wellbeing of all and by not filming their contact training sessions there was a requirement to isolate so many people.

The Committee considered the facts from the investigation, representations from the club, relevant regulations and supporting documentation and concluded that the match will be cancelled and the result deemed to be won by Saracens (0-0) with five league points allocated to Saracens Women.*

*Subject to appeal