The new season at level 3 and 4

So; finally some light at the end of a very long tunnel.

It appears that the RFU have given the go ahead for fixtures to commence from the 18th of December with the return of friendly matches in the absence of league based rugby. There will however be some restrictions which will make it rather interesting and potentially for both players and officials !

No scrums or mauls
Where the game would restart with a scrum, this will be replaced with a free kick
A minimum of five and a maximum of seven players from each team are required to form a lineout
Tackling and rucks will be permitted.

Will this make Prop forwards redundant this season ?

The proposed National club cup competitions for level 3 and 4 clubs seems to have got the go ahead for the " second -half" of the season too; and 90 % of clubs have reportedly supported it and will enter. Clubs had until yesterday to register their interest in joining the cup competition.

The below is an extract from the NCA website.

https://www.ncarugby.com/announcements/ ... mpetition/

" The competition will include both National One and National Two clubs and it will be in two phases.

Phase 1: This will consist of regional based leagues of around six clubs who will play home and away.
The groupings and fixtures will be announced once we know which clubs will be taking part with the main objective to minimise travelling.
The competition start date will also be determined when we are given the go ahead by government to restart competitive rugby which hopefully could be in January.
Phase 2 – Based on the positions in the leagues, clubs will be split into cup, plate and bowl and those matches will be played on a knockout basis to determine the three winners. We have had the offer of hosting the finals at Twickenham ".

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That's practically a different sport being played there..

Tackling, rucks, lineouts, passing and kicking. Sounds much better than nothing to me. And may be the saviour for many community clubs..........

Tackling, rucks, lineouts, passing and kicking. Sounds much better than nothing to me. And may be the saviour for many community clubs..........

John , what are the plans at Glos League level ?.

Similar all the way down the game from Level 3/4.

Clubs/teams can opt into RFU organised or local clusters based on level and/or geography and play competitively with the adapted Laws from mid-Jan. Up until then it's training-only until mid-Dec when friendlies can be played. Told that many Bristol clubs will be playing against very near-neighbours and so generate local rivalries like back in day - and get in some spectators.

The issues won't be on-field BUT off-field where club-houses have to be just like pubs ie; alcohol only allowed with a substantial meal and restrictions on who can sit with who indoors. Slightly looser rules outdoors but it is December !! And might also be some issues with crossing from Tier 2 to Tier 3 areas in the County.

Anything is better than nothing though and I guess players will just be happy to be playing some form of contact sport + clubs happy with some footfall/revenue.

Thanks mute.

Hopefully by mid January there has been some relaxation on tier rules for pubs to allow clubhouses to open

There are a lot of clubs that will be providing food to accompany drinks AND utilising out-side/marquees etc;.

Clubs that don't try will be the worse off.

There are a lot of clubs that will be providing food to accompany drinks AND utilising out-side/marquees etc;.

Clubs that don't try will be the worse off.

I have noticed down here that Gordano appear to have taken this approach . I did wonder wonder why the " 10% " of tier 3 and 4 sides were not appearing to be entering the cup competition . I am sure they have their reasons. Hopefully not financial ones of the "wrong" type.

I agree about the better than nothing approach; and anyway this may require some Prop forwards to work on their mobility !

I would guess their non-entering will be linked to financial cost of paying players and coaches to play adapted laws + financing travel etc;. The cost of laying on games will be totally down to individual clubs - they will get no RFU support re. paying players/coaches.

One of the positives of this pandemic may be to curb so much good club money going to pay amateur players/coaches.

It's great news. Ok so it's not the exact game we know, a bit like Rugby League in some ways but better than nothing.

We (Gordon League) have a friendly arranged against Old Richians on the 19th Dec. Didn't think we'd get anything close to rugby this year.

Like John said the issue will be off the field. Clubs won't be able to open the bar under these new restrictions. So operating at a loss. Unless they get creative with outside space.

I just hope that all those local players that should have been well into the season by now, stick with the sport and haven't found other things to fill their Saturday afternoons.