Schools rugby targets return on 7 November

The SRU has targeted “around 7 November” as the return date for schools and youth rugby.

As with the club game that hope is at the mercy of the ongoing C ovid -19 situation and dependent on Scottish Government guidance but the desire is to get kids playing again within two months.

The development in recent years of schools and youth conferences, some of which have a national element, will be narrowed. SRU competitions and compliance man - ager Vicky Cox said: “We’ve adapted the conferences in the same way we’ve adapted all of our competitions. They will be either local or regional.”

Health and safety will be the driving force behind the return to play for the nation’s youngsters but SRU director of development Sheila Begbie has been encouraged by word that clubs have been experiencing an increase in young people coming back for the anticipated new season.

“Some of the anecdotal evidence we are getting from our regional teams is that clubs are telling them there are more young people coming to rugby than they’ve had in recent seasons,” said Begbie. “But until we get to the point where we start registering people we’re not going to have a complete picture of what’s happening throughout the country.

“It’s probably a good question we should be asking the clubs if they do have more kids coming in, from other sports and why they are choosing rugby.”