World Rugby has made public its rugby guidelines on returning to playing and training rugby after COVID-19 on its player welfare website playerwelfare.worldrugby.org/covid-19.
The World Rugby guidelines were “developed by medical experts following consultation with union chief medical officers, competition owners and players, the guidelines are intended to assist unions, clubs and competitions in creating a framework and policy for return to rugby activity within their respective jurisdictions” said the WR website.
According to the statement, “Rugby Unions and competition owners will need to comply with local laws and policies implemented by government or local authorities in relation to COVID-19, including social distancing and travel measures.”
The RTP (Return To Play) guidelines will be updated regularly with unions informed of any modifications. There are 6 languages currently available and a World Rugby Coach and Head of Technical Services, Mark Harrington said via Twitter: “We hope to have 12 language versions and a quiz up & running by the end of the week.”
World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said of the guidelines: “World Rugby, in full partnership with unions and players, has been busy behind the scenes ensuring that everything is in place for a safe and speedy return to the sport when it is appropriate to do so.
“This includes delivering best-practice coaching, refereeing and conditioning webinars, resources and Apps and, of course, a phased roadmap for the sport’s return to training and playing.”
What are the World Rugby COVID-19 return to rugby guidelines?
The guidelines have two core sections and outline a phased approach to returning to training and playing:
- The 1st section provides safety information to everyone involved in the game including players, coaches, support and administrative staff.
- The 2nd section provides a framework around which national unions can prepare best-practice policies and guidelines for return to activity that are appropriate to their local setting, complying with national guidelines on social distancing and travel restrictions
The guidelines, which are World Health Organisation (WHO) compliant, outline three dedicated time-bound return-to-training phases
- small group training
- full group non-contact training
- full contact training
The guidelines also document “the environment for returning to match action in a domestic, cross-border and cross-continent context and processes for facility and stadium preparation.”
World Rugby Chief Medical Officer and guideline co-author Dr Éanna Falvey added: “They outline all the necessary considerations and steps for players, coaches, clubs, unions and competitions and will be updated regularly as the advice and environment evolves.
The guidelines were authored by Falvey, Dr Martin Raftery (World Rugby), Prav Mathema (Welsh Rugby Union), Prof Mary Horgan (consultant physician of infectious diseases) and supported by data collected through regional COVID-19 steering group chairs who consulted with World Rugby’s 124 national member unions.
Although some social rugby clubs and touch rugby has returned to parts of Asia, national Asia Rugby Unions won’t be starting up until at least the end of June.
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