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Opinion: Is It Time For A Rugby Time-Out?

irish rugby tours

Opinion: Is It Time For A Rugby Time-Out?

A Goff Rugby Report Opinion Column

Major sports leagues are suspending play and Major League Rugby has announced it is suspending league play for 30 days, so is it time to stop playing rugby altogether?

We here at Goff Rugby Report are not medical experts. And while we've seen health scares and epidemics before, what's happening now in terms of people not really knowing how to respond, and there being a fairly simple way to avoid spreading COVID19 (stay away from people), prompts us to conclude that maybe we should just call a halt.

Major sports events were looking at playing without fans, because the main concern was large crowds helping COVID19 spread. But then athletes started to get it, and they started to realize that hot, sweaty locker rooms and constant physical contact turns out to be really good if you want to spread a disease.

That's why we are thinking that maybe we should just not play any rugby for a couple of weeks.

Consider:

The LA Sevens and Vancouver Sevens dodged a bit of a bullet by being held only a few days before we started to get really serious about canceling sporting events. Canceling those events would have been potentially financially injurious for the host organizations (potentially). As it was, people showed up and had a good time. Did anyone get sick? No idea.

World Rugby and major international rugby organizations moved faster than many organizations to do something about COVID19. The Hong Kong 7s and Singapore 7s were moved to October. That decision was made back in mid-February, well before concerns reached boiling point.

Hong Kong, Singapore 7s Rescheduled Due To Health Crisis

Similarly, Six Nations games Italy at Ireland, England at Italy, and Ireland at France were canceled (or at least postponed). Oddly, this weekend's Scotland at Wales game is still on ... for now.

On a smaller scale, this weekend's Come and Take It tournament in Woodlands, Texas has been called off. Various tours to Europe are now not going ahead thanks to school decisions, or government decisions to halt movement.

Some single games have been called off, too. While Texas A&M at Cal Poly was called off due to flooding, not the coronavirus, this weekend's Utah at Cal game is not going ahead, officially because of health concerns.  

And now Major League Rugby has made the move, suspending the season for 30 days. 

"After discussions with all clubs, we have determined that the decision to suspend our season is in the best interest of our community, fans, officials, and staff," said MLR Commissioner George Killebrew.

Updates: Most of the high school rugby on the East Coast seems to be shutting down for Spring Break. Most private schools are halting sports activities, and shutting down tours. 

USA Rugby's Training and Education programs have suspended all in-person courses through March (maybe longer). The National Development Tour event in Boston has been canceled; 120 people were registered.

Rugby Washington has delayed the start of its season by two weeks.

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Most of these changes are due to the fact that the events bring large crowds from various places, mixing pathogens and increasing the likelihood that the virus will spread. Some are due to travel bans that are designed to reduce the number of people in general going through ports of entry, and spreading the virus.

But what about just playing games? Rugby rates pretty high when you discuss physical contact. If you're a prop or hooker, do you want to interlock heads with some stranger who is snorting and coughing two feet from you? No, no you do not. In rugby we grab, grapple, shove, and tackle repeatedly. 

So whether your opponent is from down the street or across the country, maybe you don't want to be rubbing shoulders with him or her right now.

Serious question—should we all just not play for a while?

Second serious question—Shouldn't USA Rugby just say they're not approving referees for this weekend and the next? USA Rugby probably can't force you NOT to play, but they can advise.