IN his monthly column for the , Luctonians’ director of operations Alex Smith says the scenario around the junior and adult games are very different under Covid-19 guidelines.
He says: AS we move towards what would normally be the end of the first month of competitive rugby activity, the adult and age grade games appear to be moving in two different directions.
Over the past few weeks at Mortimer Park, we have seen the return of our age grade sides, with several hundred five to18 year olds all enjoying their return to rugby in these beautiful late summer conditions.
Whilst there have obviously been adaptations required to allow these numbers to use the facilities at Lucs during these times of Covid, it has been managed superbly, in a safe way by our mini and junior volunteers.
Seeing the kids get the opportunities to engage in an activity they enjoy and interact with their friends has proven extremely worthwhile for all involved.
Any Covid-enforced adaptations made to the game of rugby we all normally recognise, will likely be transitioned into the junior game with ease over the coming months, meaning even within the many restrictions we all face in our everyday lives, at least rugby at these levels should be able to resume quite close to what the majority of children have become accustomed to.
It is much less clear how competitive league action will come back for the senior sides, including our 1st XV.
The RFU have already stated there will be no league competition before at least November and it is widely accepted that National League clubs will not be playing any adapted version of rugby on a competitive basis after that.
You simply could not ask our players to travel to Northumberland twice and Yorkshire six times this season to play a version of rugby that had no scrums or mauls and limits on tackling.
Our senior players continue to train weekly, awaiting with much anticipation the next RFU announcement around competition.
We appreciate most people will have many more pressing issues to worry about right now than rugby, so we hope for some good news for all, both on and off the fields over the coming weeks, but pragmatically must start preparing for the possibility of more delay.
