- Durban could be off the hook as the source of the serious stomach bugs that led to Ulster and Glasgow postponing their weekend matches against the Lions and Sharks.
- URC chief Martin Anayi said that early indications in a yet-to-be-completed medical review are that the two teams might've brought the bugs with them into South Africa.
- Anayi admitted that protocols over the reporting of such situations need to be improved in future.
Durban's ailing water infrastructure could be off the hook for the severe and widespread gastroenteritis that dogged Ulster and Glasgow last week and led to the controversial postponing of their URC fixtures against the Sharks and Lions respectively.
Martin Anayi, chief executive of the tournament, on Tuesday confirmed that both teams had been suffering from, rather freakishly, cases of E.coli (which is bacterial) as well as the viral norovirus and were simply took stricken to even participate in delayed matches.
However, while he reiterated that the independent medical review is still ongoing, there's evidence to suggest that the overseas teams brought the respective afflictions to South Africa with them and didn't necessarily become infected in Durban, a popular theory emanating from the city's sewage system collapsing after April's devastating floods.
"Initial indications are that the two squads were affected by two separate bugs within their groups, which means E.coli and noro were found among players," Anayi told a media call.
"There are also some indications that they might've brought it with them, so there's a lot to go into. The medical review is ongoing and we'll be going into that."
Norovirus, according to Britain's own National Health Service, is nicknamed the "winter vomiting bug", which gives credence to the possibility of it being picked up in the northern hemisphere already.
Regardless of its origin, there was simply no scope for the matches to be played last weekend.
"The reality is that we took medical advice, like we always do in these situations. The view very clearly from the independent doctor was that we had two very sick squads. It was quite stark," said Anayi.
"There was absolutely no way the game could just be delayed by 24 or 48 hours. The doctor felt both squads had a significant number of men down with a serious bug. Early indications - and the review is still ongoing, which is important because one has to understand what's happened - is that the situation was quite odd."
While both the Sharks and Lions camps expressed wishes of well-being for the sick players, there was much unhappiness about the timing of the issue, with the two franchises only being informed of the situation by mid-Friday.
Anayi himself was in the same boat, prompting him to state that the relevant protocols would have to re-examined and perhaps even bolstered.
"Everyone agrees that the whole saga was rather bizarre, even the teams. That's why we have an independent review ongoing. We must try and understand what happened," he said.
"Friday morning was actually the first I heard of it as well. There's definitely a need for us to adapt what our processes are for informing the league, fellow teams, broadcasters and fans when situations such as this one occurs. Again, that's why this medical review is important, so that we can learn going forward.
"It's incredibly disappointing for all involved, particularly anybody close to the Sharks and Lions because of what those franchises had planned to put on on match-day. They had all their Boks available and a fantastic fanzone."
A decision on when and whether the affected matches will be replayed is subject to the URC's sporting committee reviewing all relevant factors and exploring a potential window, which Anayi admitted is going to be challenging.
This process should be completed "within weeks".
"The rules do state that the game should be replayed. That's the first point why the matches have been postponed and not abandoned," he said.
"It's difficult to find a slot in the schedule because of the international weekends. Our regulations state that games should be played wherever possible. If it is, we'll replay those games. If it's not and we simply don't have a slot, it wouldn't be right to send mismatched teams to play against each other.
"We have a sporting committee that needs to decide on this. On that committee, each territory has a representative and that's absolutely binding on the board. We've kept it central. That body hears results of the independent medical review and relevant rugby factors. That will happen in the next few weeks, not months."
Anayi added it wouldn't be appropriate for him to speculate on whether points would be forfeited or shared if the fixtures can't be fulfilled.