How rugby union is shaping up for a return to action

England’s top rugby union clubs have been given the go-ahead to resume training under certain conditions.

Here, the PA news agency looks in detail at how the sport is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

Who can now train?

England’s Premiership and Championship clubs have been handed provisional approval to begin non-contact training from the Professional Game Board. Clubs must educate all players and support staff to ensure they can make an informed decision on whether to restart training. They must also appoint a Covid-19 manager and a medical lead, set out hygiene standards for training facilities, provide appropriate personal protective equipment and conduct daily screening, including temperature checks. Stage one protocols allow for individuals or small groups to train in the same facility, while adhering to social distancing rules. No timescale has been set for a return to contact training or games.

What club competitions plan to restart?

What about the international scene?

Is any rugby union starting soon?

The Southern Hemisphere’s Super Rugby is due to begin in New Zealand on June 13. Australia is scheduled to follow in July with South Africa looking at plans for a domestic tournament when government restrictions allow.

What is the financial impact?

Rugby Australia this week axed 47 of 147 full-time posts plus 30 casual workers and contractors. Professional players, coaches and staff across the Home Nations have taken pay cuts and some have been furloughed. The already precarious USA Rugby filed for bankruptcy. There are major concerns over the impact of internationals being postponed later in the year. RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney stated that the English union stood to lose £122million if there were no matches at Twickenham in 2020 and predicted a six-year process “to get rugby back fully on its feet”.

How can the game adapt to the ‘new normal’?

The sport faces heightened challenges in implementing social distancing and World Rugby has suggested a number of optional law changes during the crisis. The aim is to limit scrum contact and time, lower the tackle height and speed up ball distribution from rucks and mauls. The trials provide limits to scrum options with no scrum resets, limits for players joining rucks and mauls, time to play the ball at the base of scrums and rucks reduced from five to three seconds and only one movement permitted for a maul. However, the RFU has declared it will create its own guidelines for clubs.