The Rugby Football Union have confirmed the 2020/21 National League season will not begin next month.
In their recent announcements, the RFU have said we will still remain at Stage B of their Return to Community Rugby Roadmap. It means the only activity permitted is socially distanced non-contact activity in maximum group sizes of six.
This means no scrum training, tackle training or any other form of contact rugby and also means that touch and tag activity is not permitted.
The RFU stated in their Community Game Update: “We have to reach Stage F (which will not be reached until at least four weeks after Stage E) before full contact competitive league rugby can commence. As a result of the current position, the adult league season (Level 3 & below for men, Level 2 & below for women) will not commence in September.
“Unless there is a dramatic improvement in the prevalence of the virus in the community, the next announcement about when league rugby will commence for these levels will be on 1 September. The fixtures previously published will be amended at the earliest opportunity and this will be communicated to clubs.”
The RFU are also set to cut more than 100 community jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic as part of their “remodelling” of the governing body.
Last month, the RFU said it faced short-term revenue losses of over £100m and it has proposed that roles including community coaches would be lost.
In July, the RFU warned that the total number of redundancies could be 139 and individual meetings on redundancies are continuing, according to BBC Sport who also said ‘further announcements regarding other roles affected are expected in the coming weeks.’
