All Scottish club rugby including Super6 is paused until 2021

All levels of rugby below the full-time professional game in Scotland have been suspended until next year.

The SRU says it remains committed to Super6.

It includes the semi-pro Super6 which was supposed to resume on the weekend of 31 October.

It comes after the Scottish Government announced this week that all outdoor contact sport for over-18s, with the exception of professional sport, was to be paused until Sunday 25 October.

Super6 is a new competition that was launched last season in an attempt to bridge the gap between the largely amateur club game and Scotland’s two pro teams, Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors.

The inaugural Super6 was curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic and the second season will not now start until spring next year.

Club and schools rugby could resume in January but the Scottish Rugby Union said over a dozen rugby clubs across Scotland have reported positive coronavirus cases in recent weeks.

A statement from the SRU said: “Scottish Rugby’s Board has today supported a recommendation by the Scottish Rugby Council to delay the planned return to competitive rugby, at all levels of the club and school game, until January 2021 at the earliest.

“This week’s announcement by the Scottish Government to pause all outdoor contact sport for over 18s, with the exception of professional sport, until Sunday 25 October across five regional health boards, aligned with its previous decision to delay moving to Phase 4 of its COVID-19 recovery Route Map until at least 15 October means Scottish Rugby’s timetable to progress its own Return to Rugby Roadmap will be further delayed.

“As a consequence of Scottish Rugby remaining at Stage 4 of its Roadmap for a further period of time, the resumption of competitive rugby from the intended date of 31 October 2020 was deemed no longer feasible.

“Without government lockdown measures easing to enable Scottish Rugby to move to Stage 5 and the resulting resumption of full contact training and non-competitive (friendly) matches, players would be unable to fully and safely prepare for competitive matches from 31 October.

“The decision to pause the return to competitive rugby in the community game has been shared with Scottish Government, which in turn has fully supported the move and its rationale.“Scottish Rugby’s Threat Management Group met twice this week in its role to assess the impact of Covid-19 on the sport and the wider societal implications and along with the Rugby Development department continue to keep all options under consideration.

“The FOSROC Super6 Sprint Series, which had a scheduled start date of 31 October, will now not take place. The FOSROC Super6 teams will now work towards a full fixture card in the spring of 2021.

“Scottish Rugby remains fully committed to supporting the six franchises, their part-time professional players and staff.

“Over a dozen rugby clubs across Scotland have reported positive coronavirus cases in recent weeks, resulting in facilities being temporarily closed and deep cleaned, training sessions postponed and public health guidance on self-isolation being followed by those affected.

“Recent government restrictions would also limit the ability of clubs to travel to games with car sharing not permitted and private hire buses only able to operate at 50% capacity, alongside how changing/shower rooms can be used safely in club houses.”

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