WIGAN WARRIORS coach Matt Peet says the absence of direct flights is no excuse for any English team facing Toulouse Olympique away.
Peet’s team will be the second to play in south-west France this season on Saturday, after the promoted side beat Castleford Tigers two weeks ago.
Logistical problems plagued Castleford’s trip, in which they took two flights each way with stopovers in Germany.
Their director of rugby Chris Chester said the entire journey to Toulouse took 13 hours via Munich, and the return took twelve-and-a-half hours via Frankfurt.
Afterwards Tigers coach Ryan Carr called on the RFL to make travel as straightforward as possible in the absence of direct flights from northern England outside the peak travel season.
“It wasn’t great preparation – it’s not an excuse, it’s a fact,” said Carr.
“It is naive to wait for the weather to clear up to be able to get direct flights out there. It’s irresponsible from us as a game.
“We need to make sure clubs don’t have to do that because it’s a bit negligent from us as a game in terms of player welfare.”
Wigan have opted for a different approach, travelling to Stansted on Thursday and flying direct to Toulouse from the London airport the following day.
They will then make the same journey in reverse to return home on Sunday evening.
“You’ve got to plan the best journey logistically, which I think we’ve done,” said Peet.
“(We looked at) the quality of the hotels, the recovery (sessions). The lads will jump on the coach and the chef’s on the coach.
“It’s just about your staff wrapping around your players, providing as much support as we can.
“And also having the expectation that it might not go to plan, and if so we’ve just got to deal with that.
“No matter what, there is no excuse. It can be a challenge, but you have to remember that Toulouse are doing this every week in reverse, and Catalans are not much different.
“We see it as part of the fixture. It’s something we get excited about – spending some time together travelling, representing the club but having fun along the way.”