RUGBY IN CHAOS
++ Return to training put back due to health and safety worries ++ Covid-19 testing proving too expensive ++ Concerns season will be called off
CONCERNS about medical support including CPR provision, and doubts about the ability to fund a coronavirus testing programme, have forced Premiership rugby clubs to delay their proposed return to training.
The setback raises fears the season won’t be completed. Yesterday, a conference call meeting of the Professional Game Board, including representatives from the RFU, Premiership Rugby, the RPA players’ union and the Championship clubs, confirmed that players cannot resume group activities for at least a fortnight.
However, players are privately resigned to the shutdown dragging on far longer and possibly leading to the cancellation of the disrupted domestic campaign.
Sportsmail has learned that health and safety issues are undermining attempts to kickstart a return, by allowing squads to reconvene in small groups. Keeping players safe is a complex equation. Clubs
cannot stage training sessions without having the capacity to perform CPR if required, but it is understood that would currently involve use of ‘hazmat’ suits, or other PPE equipment. Sources have indicated that clubs will struggle with the cost of such provision. The alternatives are to rely on NHS back-up, or proceed without the necessary medical arrangements in place, either of which would constitute a breach of contract. In addition, the RFU and Premiership are under significant financial pressure, which means the cost of extensive Covid-19 testing is deemed to be potentially prohibitive. So the two-week setback announced last night may be followed in due course by worse news about any prospects of a season resumption. Directors of rugby and club owners held talks on Wednesday which concluded with agreement that group training could not take place yet — and that verdict was ratified by the PGB yesterday. Chairman Chris Booy said: ‘The group agreed that, although a huge amount of work is being undertaken to enable a safe return to training for Premiership clubs, more time is needed to ensure that players, staff and officials can return to a safe training environment. That is not expected to be in place for a minimum of two weeks.’ The delay is significant because it means any hope that the top division can be completed in full — with nine more regular-season rounds, play-off semi-finals and a final — are receding. Whenever the all-clear comes, it was widely assumed that clubs would need four weeks to ensure their squads were ready for a return to match action, as Bristol’s director of rugby, Pat Lam, suggested earlier this week. But Leicester head coach Geordan Murphy disagrees. ‘There has to be a slow, graded return,’ Murphy told the BBC. ‘That would be a minimum of eight weeks, which is what we’re planning. It will be decided, though, by the RFU and RPA, so I don’t know where we will end up. ‘There are a lot of unknowns. We need to speak to the RFU and RPA.’ There certainly are a lot of unknowns — and a lot of doubts about any imminent hope of rugby returning in these parts. One player told Sportsmail: ‘I just don’t know how we’re going to be able to do it. Some of the ideas being mentioned to get the game going again (no scrums, mauls etc) are ridiculous. We wouldn’t be playing rugby. I can’t see the league being back in July.’ Another player suggested any notion of group training by mid-June ‘might be optimistic’ while another added: ‘The situation changes daily. I hope we get back, but would be surprised if we’re scrummaging or mauling any time soon.’ While PRL are adamant they will resume fixtures and conclude this season, that scenario is now regarded as fanciful. Cancellation of the rest of the 2019-20 league campaign is seen as a very real threat. One player said: ‘Last I heard was the season was being ended and we would start afresh in September.’ Another informed source added: ‘This season is going to get cancelled. Clubs can’t agree on safe protocols and empty stadiums are not cost effective.’