Tonight offers vital step back to normality for all of sport
HOW great it was to see professional rugby’s return to action at BT Murrayfield last weekend. It was the first game in five months, and that showed early on, but it turned out to be a much better match than I was expecting.
Edinburgh did what they needed to do, their victory securing a home semi-final against Ulster. Glasgow knew their season was over just as it was starting again, one of the many things we’re getting used to in these strange times. In a few weeks’ time, if Edinburgh also progress in Europe, they’ll be playing in a competition from last season when the new league campaign has started. Work that one out!
Tonight’s second instalment of the derby is meaningless from a rugby perspective but hugely significant for what’s happening off the field. This has been designated a pilot game for spectators to be allowed back into stadiums, the first time it’s happened in Scotland since the lockdown restrictions stopped all sport.
The world may not be watching but the whole of Scotland will be, particularly the football clubs and fans who’ll be interested in seeing how it all works out.
Celtic had asked for Sunday’s game with Motherwell to be a test match for fans, too, but that was rejected by the Scottish Government. Holyrood wanted more time between these pilots so they can learn from how things go tonight at Murrayfield.
So, the first tentative steps back to normality begin this evening, with approximately 700 fans allowed in to watch the game. They will all be Edinburgh fans to avoid unnecessary travel for Glasgow fans — and they will be spread out in a socially distanced manner throughout the East Stand.
There’s been a lot of banter on social media, with those from the west joking that 700 is actually a good home crowd for Edinburgh! That may have been the case in the past but not now. Those same fans from Glasgow with longer memories will remember that, back in the days when I played, that would also have been the attendance at Hughenden some nights.
It doesn’t matter if it’s 70 or 700 tonight. Having supporters back is massive. We all watched the Aotearoa Super Rugby from New Zealand when it started a couple of months ago and they had packed stadiums, which was great to see. Obviously, New Zealand hadn’t had Covid-19 in the same way we have so they were allowed to fill the stadiums with no social-distancing required.
That was never going to happen here but at least tonight we’ll take the first steps back to getting things moving again in a positive manner, until eventually we see Murrayfield packed again as it was against France in early March.
It’s been a strange experience for the players and coaches returning to play because, when they’re off the pitch, it’s all very regulated with lots of the restrictions that we all observe due to Covid.
The players arrive in training gear, there are no team meetings inside, all the weights are outside under the concourse at Murrayfield and everyone has to observe the strict social-distancing rules. Then the players step on the training pitch and all bets are off!
They are staging normal training sessions with physical contact being a big part of rugby with scrums, mauls, tackles and lineouts. Once they leave the pitch, they’re back into the regulated environment again which makes the whole training experience quite surreal.
This will also be what it feels like for the 700 fans allowed in this evening. Surreal. There will be one-way systems, no touching of the turnstiles, instructions on how to pass someone when in the seats and the vast majority of the 67,000 seats tied up and out of use.
It will feel strange for the fans but, once the game gets going, just like the players in training, they’ll forget about the restrictions and simply enjoy the match. It will be like no other match-day experience that they’ve had — but it is a start.