Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus: Can't avoid close contact in rugby's new normal

The English and Welsh teams leaving very little distance between them in a scrum during the Six Nations in March.
The English and Welsh teams leaving very little distance between them in a scrum during the Six Nations in March. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

NEW YORK • Three big men lock arms. Three from the other team do the same. At the referee's signal, they lunge towards each other, their faces inches apart.

Often there is a rule violation of some kind, and they have to get up and do it again. And maybe again. Does not really sound like social distancing, does it?

The coronavirus has caused dramatic shifts in the scheduling and logistics of many sports.

In rugby union, it may cause material changes in the rules of the game itself.

Scrums, when the players' faces come close to each other, would not be barred outright, but World Rugby is advising they not be reset repeatedly by the referee.

Tacklers will have to come in low, not upright, another situation with the potential for close face-to-face contact. The group also recommended barring huddles and spitting.

It is advising that at half-time, the ball be washed, and players don new uniforms.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that risks of transmission are greatest when people are close to each other for 15 minutes or more.

Rugby players who are most often in scrums are in close contact with the opposition for about 131/2 total minutes per game, World Rugby has said.

The changes are not mandatory, however, and Super Rugby in New Zealand, which is set to resume on June 13, has already said it would be sticking with the traditional rules, repeated face-to-face scrums and all.

"There doesn't appear to be any signs of community transmission in New Zealand, so our circumstances are quite different, and we don't anticipate the need to adopt the law proposals," Mark Robinson, the chief executive of New Zealand Rugby, told Radio New Zealand.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 29, 2020, with the headline Coronavirus: Can't avoid close contact in rugby's new normal. Subscribe