London (AFP)
Premiership rugby clubs will be allowed to resume training with physical contact between players from Monday, with a view to resuming the season in August, officials said. this competition.
The twelve Premiership clubs have been allowed to work without contact since the beginning of June, while the new coronavirus pandemic forced the suspension of the season on March 16.
But the "second stage" allows them to resume contact training in small groups, including melee sessions.
"This is an important step in our journey towards restarting the Premiership, as we remain on track to resume the championship on Saturday August 15, if it remains safe," said Darren Childs, general manager of the Premiership.
"This step is accompanied by a comprehensive COVID-19 testing program for players and staff, as well as a contact tracing protocol," he said.
All players will be asked, for privacy reasons, if they wish to participate in the second training stage, after having followed a training module.
"Rugby presents unique challenges due to the levels of proximity and impact, which is why the comprehensive process that is followed is so comprehensive and has involved high-level collaboration between rugby first division, RFU ( Rugby Football Union) and the Rugby Players' Association (RPA), "added Darren Childs.
The return to contact training has been ratified by the Professional Gaming Decision Board. Its president, Chris Booy, assured that "the Premiership clubs have successfully completed the first stage of the process".
"So we can now move on to the second stage before the targeted resumption of the Premiership on the weekend from August 14 to 16," he said.
The title of champion remains to be decided, like the play-off places, while the relegated team is already known, the Saracens, defending champions, having been demoted because of non-compliance with the salary ceiling.
Exeter is five points ahead of Sale at the top of the ranking.
Bristol and Northampton currently occupy the other two play-off spots, with Premiership clubs still having nine games to play in the regular season.
© 2020 AFP