Of rugby without a scrum, veneer, or even ball… but rugby still, for the greatest happiness of the licensees : the lovers take the entraînemennt in the club after two and a half months of confinement.Rugby field desert for the containment, Herblay, near Paris, on April 30, 2020. (FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
It is a good news for all players of rugby fans. They can gradually return to a club from this Monday, may 18, for adults and children. After two months of total shutdown, the French rugby Federation (FFR) has developed a recovery plan of activity approved by the ministry of Sports.
The protocol provides for six phases of recovery : individual paths without the ball, individual pathways with a ball, situations with past situations with game to touch, situations with contact, friendly matches. The first phase starts Monday, may 18, and present the opportunity to resume training with individual tracks without the ball. The sessions should not last more than 45 minutes, at least 80 of the maximum heart rate for not to take any risk. Before donning crampons, players should ensure that they do not show symptoms of the coronavirus.
A “Covid-manager” by the club
And all of this will be supervised in each club by a “Covid-manager”, a volunteer not necessarily a doctor. “The Covid-managers in the clubs first mission is first to organize the schedules of arrival of the groups, explains Didier Retière, the national technical director. It has only ten people, including the coach. For a club that has dozens of licensees, it will take time to organize.”
“Then, during training, it is the Covid-manager to verify that all safety instructions are well respected,” continues Didier Retière. Beyond the usual gestures barriers, it is not kissing as a greeting or to give a hug, to maintain a physical distance of at least 1 meter to the stop, 5 meters, when walking, 10-meter during the race.
“And after training, it is the Covid-manager to keep a list of people, ending Didier Retière, to be able to, in the case where you would have a case stated, isolate the people who would have trained with him.” There will also be a “Covid-manager” per department and per league to report the situation to the FFR, which will decide the progress of the recovery plan up to the next phase.
At the end of two and a half months of confinement, it is true that it is always nice to find friends, meet…Damien Elgoyhen, Saint-Jean-de-Luz
For the moment, the players should arrive in uniform with their own water bottle. They will not be able to take a shower at the end of the workout. Constraints that do not start the enthusiasm of Damien Elgoyhen, third row and captain of the Saint-Jean-de-Luz at the Olympic club in the third division. “Even if it’s going to be a reduced headcount at the start and even if it’s still to make the trip, which is not necessarily fun… after a while, running around in the woods all alone, it is a little tiring ! As they say, what matter the bottle, provided there is drunkenness. So we’re going to enjoy being all together.”
If health conditions permit, these courses to the training will then be conducted with ball in hand. Then, the players will resume the game passes before you consider contacts and, finally, in friendly matches in the month of August.
