The long wait is almost over as rugby gears up to resume play

THIS morning our country’s rugby franchises will receive instructions from governing body SA Rugby regarding final Covid-19 testing that must be undertaken so that contact training can resume, and this is not a minute too soon for rugby’s frustrated players, administrators, sponsors and broadcasters and, indeed, sports-starved supporters.

On Friday, the Sports Ministry okayed SA Rugby’s blueprint for the resumption of rugby, provided a last round of testing is now done, and the consequent green light for the players to take full contact in training is the precursor to a domestic competition kicking off.

Coaches agree that players need roughly three to four weeks of contact training to prepare themselves for match situations, which means we can expect kick-off on the weekend of September 18/19 at the earliest, but more likely the following weekend.

The last time rugby was played in South Africa was on March 14, when the Sharks beat the Stormers in a round seven Super Rugby match in Durban, with the country entering a sudden lockdown not long after.

That means that if rugby indeed resumes towards the end of September, it will be a full six months that the game would have been silenced in South Africa.

For those directly involved in the game, that must seem like an eternity, and the sport has suffered greatly in terms of financial loss.

There have been salary cuts for players and administration staff, and for two unions, the Valke on the East Rand and the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth, the lockdown has contributed to their filing for bankruptcy.

SA Rugby will over the next week or two announce the format of domestic rugby going forward.

It is weighing up various options including staging a mini-tournament among our four Super Rugby franchises to be followed by a single-round, eight-team Currie Cup.

While we await these developments with interest, the most important thing right now is that rugby is at last stirring into life and it is now only a question of time before our players once more lace up their boots in anger.