From the Times :
Premiership players have been warned not to make the same mistake as the England cricketer Jofra Archer because any breach of strict anti-coronavirus regulations could lead to a ban or cost their team at least five league points.
Archer, the fast bowler, was fined and missed England’s second-Test victory over West Indies while on quarantine after he broke ECB rules when making an unauthorised visit to his home in Hove.
The Premiership is on course to resume on August 14 and the league’s biggest concern, given that it cannot create a biosecure bubble, is that a Covid-19 outbreak could force matches to be cancelled. Every player is tested on a Monday, at a cost of £100,000 a week, and a strict set of operating standards has been drawn up jointly by the RFU, Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players Association.
The basic principle is that social distancing must be adhered to at all times, other than when playing or contact training. The RFU’s punishments include fines, bans and points deductions.
On away trips, to ensure that social distancing is respected, players will not share hotel rooms, as they usually do, nor will they all travel on one team bus. These measures will all increase the cost of restarting the season, which was postponed in mid-March with nine rounds and the play-offs remaining.
Two Premiership players from different clubs tested positive for Covid-19 in the league’s third round of tests on Monday, a reduction from ten in the first week and nine in the second. Those two players and any team-mates with whom they have been in contact will go into isolation before having another test at the end of this week.
England, Wales and Scotland will play five Tests this autumn after World Rugby approved plans for an extended international window, from October 24 to December 5. The Six Nations, which was postponed in March, will be completed over the first two weekends before Fiji and Georgia join a new eight-team competition to be staged in Europe from November 14.
The plan is to split the teams into two conferences of four, with a finals day, probably at Twickenham, on December 5. If crowds are permitted, Wales will hold their games in London. The Rugby Championship will be played in New Zealand over a reduced six-period between November 7 and December 12.
World Rugby has come under pressure to investigate the election of Bill Beaumont and Bernard Laporte as chairman and vice-chairman respectively in May.
Pacific Rugby Players Welfare (PRPW) compiled a damning 59-page dossier that branded World Rugby’s governance as “glaringly deficient”.
The document has been sent to Sir Hugh Robertson, who is leading a governance review of World Rugby, which maintains that the election was “fairly contested”.
The governing body issued a statement that read: “World Rugby strongly refutes unsubstantiated and erroneous claims made by PRPW and their chief executive, Dan Leo, regarding voting influence within the international federation’s recent election process and other governance matters.
“World Rugby is completely satisfied that the 2020 chairperson election was undertaken in accordance with a robust process, with Sir Bill Beaumont elected in a fair and appropriate manner.”
Always a Wasp
Topic: Premiership clubs face points penalties if players defy Covid rules (Read 1831 times)