As the uncertainty of Covid-19 continues to leave sports around the world in a state of limbo, amateur rugby in the UK is no different. England’s Rugby governing body the Rugby Football Union has seen significant financial losses with Sky Sports reporting a figure of £106 million due in no small part to the lack of fans attending international fixtures.
With the world’s richest Rugby Union struggling so significantly it is perhaps surprising if not miraculous that amateur Rugby clubs who rely so heavily on the RFU continue to make strides. One such club is East London Rugby Club who despite sticking stringently to the government outlines has seen a significant turnout in numbers for their training sessions.
I recently caught up with Eddie Gooby who is the 1st XV head coach at East London to discuss how the club have managed their way through this difficult period.
“Yeah, we have been since July, so back three months now and everything has been going really well, we have about twenty new players come to the club and join. Some of the regular players have gone and some have stayed but we have new players joining all the time, with anything from twenty – forty training.” Eddie said.
Socially Distanced
With such significant numbers consistently showing up to training East London and more specifically Eddie had to adapt training to meet the RFU and government criteria for social distancing.
“We are not allowed contact, so for me as a coach it was a nightmare. We had to set up groups of six, so we had two pitches going and we had them in corners basically which meant I had to set up the same stuff eight times. I was putting out hundreds of cones as you can imagine.”
East London Rugby Club House
As the end of the warm summer months neared their end and the government adjusted the social distancing regulations, Eddie and his coaching team were able to assign players into bigger groups and resume close to regular training protocols as Eddie explains.
“We are now in groups of ten where we can do a one on one tackle, a lifting of a line-out but on contesting or mauling, scrummaging or rucking or anything like that. You can now do a little bit of bag work if you want to but their saying only fifteen minutes at a time.”
Back To Basics
With minor contact now coming into play the RFU released their latest protocols called “Rugby Ready” which is a non-contact game of two handed touch rugby which in theory should get clubs closer to competitive action whilst the suspension of the season continues.
“Well the new regulations that the RFU have put out, I have been playing for the last twenty years at this point and as club we have been playing it all the time! We have four teams in the groups, and they play a round robin every Wednesday night and this weekend we have actually joined a mini league with Barking, May and Baker and Thames Rugby Clubs which run for six weeks up until the end of November and then we have internal league with the Kings Cross Steelers at our club so we have done quite well.”
Whilst the touch rugby is certainly a step in the right direction, it is clear to tell that Eddie just like every other Director of Rugby in England is itching to get back to the competitive world of contact Rugby. Currently the RFU have stated their intention to get all non-Premiership and Championship rugby back up and running in early 20210. What Rugby will look when it does come back however may well be very different than what fans will be seeing in the professional game as the RFU look to limit physical contact as much as possible. What this will look nobody is 100% sure however Eddie feels as though it could well be modelled on the current professional female model which he goes on to explain.
“They started it this week and I’ve got a feeling that if we come back in January is how we are going to play. So basically, any knock-ons, forward passes don’t actually now go to scrum but go to a free pass, line-out I believe only happen inside the twenty-two line so if the ball goes out in between the twenty-two-meter lines then it is a free pass. I did notice for some reason that they did scrummage so I am [sure] not if it means that if you get into the opposition twenty-two then you can scrummage which I am not sure about as they want to limit the contact. So, I have a feeling if we go back then it will be a bit like that meaning you still have to play your front rows so you can’t just decide to put seven back-rowers in.”
Whilst details are still to be confirmed on the format are still to be confirmed, it is clear that East London will be ready to play when the time comes. Eddie did however admit that players were feeling frustrated with the RFU as certain measures do seem somewhat baffling considering the sport is built around contact. With new measures such as a shorter halves being considered in an effort to limit contact time. Just what this will achieve remains to be seen as Eddie goes on to say.
“So, it will be thirty-five minutes each way, so they are just saying it is less contact time. So, you’re still tackling and you’re still turning over, rucking and mauling. So, there are contradictions going on all over the place.”
In a world where everything seems uncertain it is clear that Rugby like most other sports finds itself in a strange predicament as to just how much of the sport remains and how much gets removed, what this means long term is anyone’s guess. In the short term however amateur clubs such as East London will continue to push forward and provide an all so necessary social, physical and mental outlet for it’s players.