The Welsh Rugby Union have lifted Covid training restrictions that it imposed on all of its clubs last week, but only within the Caerphilly County Borough Council region.
Welsh Rugby Union lift restrictions
The lockdown of training was solely a WRU restriction, with the government in Wales happy for limited sessions to go ahead. The restrictions left many clubs and spectators unhappy, some of which sent open letters to the Union.
Open letter to the @WelshRugbyUnion pic.twitter.com/ndeGM36W0d
— Mike Bubbins (@MikeBubbins) September 26, 2020
A message sent out to Caerphilly based clubs on Tuesday by the WRU Covid lead read;
“The temporary suspension of community rugby in the Caerphilly County Borough Council area will be lifted with immediate effect following regular reviews of the situation, three weeks after a local lockdown was imposed.
“Clubs and teams of all ages in the area may now return to training within the current return to rugby guidelines, if they feel they can provide a safe environment for players, coaches and volunteers. We have taken a number of factors into account when reviewing this situation including local intelligence around rugby clubs, the trend of coronavirus within the Local Authority and importantly, we have also consulted Club Operations Managers and volunteers from all of the rugby clubs in the area.”
The news will fall on positive vibes within Caerphilly and its surrounding areas, but could well cause anguish within other boroughs, who are yet to be lifted from lockdown.
WRU respond
A WRU statement explained;
“All clubs received £1, 000 in April and then a further £500 from the emergency funding pot over the summer towards the purchase of any PPE, cleaning materials or similar to allow them to return to training. This week all WRU full member clubs have received £1,000 and the district clubs £600 – this is a first instalment of their 2020/21 core grant.
“They’ll be receiving information in the next couple of weeks regarding payment of the rest of their funding for this season which will include the core and development grants as normal, plus additional emergency funding to help them through the current situation.
“When local lockdowns are imposed by Welsh Government, our approach is to temporarily suspend rugby in that area. The rationale for this is that rugby environments ordinarily bring people together who might not otherwise come into contact with each other. This is usually a great unique strength of the game, but a challenge at a time when community transmission needs minimising.
“Once the suspension is in place, the WRU continues to review the situation taking into account a number of factors at work in the area, including the local trajectory of the virus, as well as supporting information gathered on our Covid tracking network and local intelligence.”
“Main photo credit”
