‘I am glad to see some sort of structure’
WICKLOW RFC President, Brian Clarke, has welcomed the IRFU’s roadmap to the resumption of club rugby in Ireland, while he stressed that that any timeline would be subject to change according to how Ireland continues to cope with the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.
On Monday, the IRFU published a working structure for the reintroduction of club rugby in Ireland.
The roadmap is structured into four different stages (COVID-19 Safety Planning Stage, Reduced Activities Stage, Non-contact stage, and contact stage), and goes hand-in-hand with the government’s own plan for the easing of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
As implied, the third stage of the IRFU’s roadmap is when clubs will be permitted to partake in non-contact training, all the while adhering to public health guidance. Subsequently, in stage four, limited contact training will be permitted, as well as a gradual return to contact matches.
According to the government’s current lockdown easing pathway, competition involving close contact sports, including rugby and boxing, will be permitted from August 10.
Speaking to the Wicklow People, Brian Clarke welcomed the IRFU’s plan, although he was aware of the tentative nature of the current pathway, given the uncertain few months that the country is heading into as restrictions are eased.
‘I am glad to see some sort of structure. It is an overview of what they are planning to do over the next few weeks, so it is a start. I think what they have been doing is kind of looking at the current situation and what the government is doing, and then this is only just the first section of what I think is going to be much larger plan to allow us to eventually return to rugby, at some stage.
‘We are just kind of looking at how things are going to work, in terms of some form of training. That is going to be a difficult one. It is going to be very hard for every sport, but particularly for the contact sports.
‘We will return to some form of distance training. Then, you will return to some form of probably touch rugby side of things, where there is limited contact. Eventually, when I think the government and the IRFU and the medical people say it is safe, we will get back to rugby. All we can do as a club is to take guidance from the government, the IRFU, and the medical people and just start to put a plan in place.’
Over the next week, rugby clubs will be expected to begin planning for the introduction of specialist safety officers, as well as volunteers tasked with the responsibility of reporting on any given organisation’s compliance with the rules/
Any easing of lockdown will be subject to social distancing measures, which presents unique challenges for sports, particularly rugby. With that in mind, there have been discussions regarding potential changes to aspects of rugby, including rucking and scrumming. While he hopes that wide-ranging alterations won’t be necessary, Clarke conceded that changes may be required to ensure the safety of players.
‘I think it is very hard to play rugby and social distance at the same time. I think, if you were to remove the scrum from the game, it kind of changes the game in totality.
‘If you are removing scrums, you are removing rucks, you are removing line-outs. You are also taking tackles out.
‘I think theyll find it very difficult to make it work.
‘I wouldn’t like to see wholesale changes for the rules but if there are rules that need to be changed to make it safer for the players, then absolutely, we would have to look at it.’