Clampdown on Super players
New Zealand’s Super Rugby players and their families are being asked to take extra stringent steps to steer clear of the Covid-19 virus as the revamped Aotearoa competition moves towards its June 13 kickoff.
Measures extend to players and their families being told to bypass public places and teams operating in a strict bubble that will see them avoid interaction with even their own front-office staff.
No chances are being taken ahead of what’s seen as a pivotal juncture for the sport amid the coronavirus pandemic.
New Zealand Rugby is sending a clear message to the five Kiwi franchises who will come together as the first top-level professional rugby competition to resume after the coronavirus sporting shutdown. They are desperate to avoid a positive test for the virus which could destabilise the resumption.
The franchises are being instructed to leave no stone unturned on the hygiene and safety front as they begin a month-long buildup to the season resumption which will take the form of a tworound New Zealand-only Aotearoa league playing out over 10 weeks.
The New Zealand teams will begin on-field training on Monday with the back end of this week spent finalising plans, bringing players back to the host cities from their lockdown boltholes and getting together for scene-setting zoom meetings.
They are being told firmly that the world they re-enter bears little resemblance to the one they left when the Super Rugby competition shut down following week seven in mid-March.
Blues coach Leon MacDonald, in an interview with Stuff, spelt out the measures they will be taking when they come together on Monday which includes a rigid team bubble, daily health checks, scanning in and out of facilities, no more than 10 allowed for gym sessions and strict limits on time spent at the team facility.
On-field training will also initially be conducted in smaller groups split into morning and afternoon sessions, while team and group meetings will remain remote on zoom and players are being asked to carry out their video review work at home.
Even previously run-of-the-mill tasks such as strapping, massages and physio treatment will now be rigidly timetabled. All facilities used by the team, such as the gym and treatment and meeting rooms, will be sanitised after every use.
‘‘We’re just trying to limit as much risk as we can,’’ MacDonald told Stuff. ‘‘If we can protect ourselves, make sure we don’t get any cases of Covid, then we’re more likely to get through the season, and that’s the ultimate goal.
‘‘It wouldn’t take much for us to get derailed and for things to get shut down.
‘‘Everything has got to be wellorganised, they’ve got to know what they’re doing around their hygiene. Little things like loitering in the hallways or showering and all that stuff needs to disappear and they just go home when we’ve finished with the rugby stuff.’’