SC rugby breathes sigh of relief

South Canterbury’s senior rugby season is gearing up for a kick-off that should have happened about 14 weeks ago.

The Hammersley Cup competition, due to kick off a week before Covid-19 lockdowns began, will now run June 27-August 29 after two weekends of pre-season matches from Saturday.

‘‘Normally the finals would be on July 25 so basically what we’ve done is chopped out one full round in order to fit it all in,’’ South Canterbury Rugby Union chief executive Craig Calder said.

‘‘There has been no major impact on the organisation and operational aspect of rugby but it’s had a severe impact around clubs and volunteers having to wrestle with what the demands have been up until level one.’’

He said clubs have been grappling with the changing regulations at each level.

‘‘It has taken a toll on some clubs and, from the uncertainty, clubs will undoubtedly experience some losses of players.

‘‘Early indications are saying we will have the same level of teams entering the first competitions but the team numbers might be down a little.’’

He said they thankfully have enough referees for the season but need more associate referees, who referee the junior games, and are running two courses in July to pick up some more.

He said a big concern was the loss of junior players.

‘‘The great risk is that we don’t attract all the kids back to playing rugby, and they lose their passion, commitment and enthusiasm for the game.’’

He was relieved the country is in level 1 meaning unlimited spectators could watch the games.

‘‘Rugby in South Canterbury is a way of life and on a Saturday it is the centrepiece where the communities gather to support their local team.

‘‘We were facing challenges of only having the 100 people at those grounds when a normal Saturday we could have 200-300 people there.’’

One club facing difficulty with the delayed season is Geraldine.

President Aaron Gregan put out an ‘‘SOS’’ this week calling for more players to sign up.

‘‘Due to player injuries, forced retirements, post-Covid work demand and farming duties like calving fast approaching, we are in short supply of rugby players across a few grades, mainly Senior A and B.’’