Club rugby safe … for now
All club and community rugby is still postponed until further notice and SA Rugby reiterated its plea to all clubs, teams, players and coaches to adhere to the lockdown rules
SA Rugby has confirmed the cancellation of a number of events and continued contingency planning for others in the wake of the pandemic.
This follows extensive consultation between members of the local rugby industry.
“These are unprecedented times, not only for rugby in South Africa, but across all spheres of life all over the globe,” said Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby, who also announced an Industry Financial Impact Plan.
“Unfortunately, we had to make some very tough calls in terms of our local competitions, but we have the buy-in and support from the local franchises and unions, SAREO, MyPlayers and our broadcaster, SuperSport, in this regard.
“The decision to cancel certain competitions and tournaments is in line with what has been happening across various sporting codes all over the world – we are not shielded from this in South Africa.
“In terms of other teams’ participation in certain competitions, and the hosting of other tournaments, we are currently on a return to train and play readiness plan, but this is dependent on government advice and decisions as the pandemic evolves.”
All club and community rugby is still postponed until further notice and SA Rugby reiterated its plea to all clubs, teams, players and coaches to adhere to the lockdown rules.
The tournaments which are still part of the planning for 2020, are:
Local franchise and union competition planned for June to August as alternative to Vodacom Super Rugby and Guinness PRO14
Currie Cup Premier and First Divisions
Provincial u/21 competition
SuperSport Rugby Challenge
Women’s Inter-Provincial competition
International matches
HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series involving the Blitzboks
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Furthermore, the participation of the SA Rugby Sevens Academy and Springbok Women’s Sevens teams will be evaluated as international borders reopen and new dates are received for the World Series Qualifiers for 2020.
The following tournaments and competitions have been cancelled for 2020:
All SA Rugby Youth Weeks
SA Rugby provincial u/13 and u/17 Sevens
SA Schools u/18 competition
SA Rugby provincial u/19 week
SA Rugby provincial u/20 competition
SA Rugby provincial Sevens Competition – @SabeloBoksburg
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