Return To Rugby

The Welsh Rugby Union has announced measures to further progress the phased return of community rugby in Wales - while still taking a safety-first approach to the resumption of the grassroots game.

In line with Welsh Government guidance, the governing body has now sanctioned the inclusion of touch rugby activities as part of fitness and skills-based training sessions at all levels of the game in Wales. This is in addition to the tag and touch rugby already sanctioned for under 7s to under 11s. More here: https://community.wru.wales/2020/08/26/next-phase-of-return-to-community-rugby/

We will continue to work closely with Welsh Government and Public Health Wales over the coming weeks as we lead into the next announcement expected in mid-September. We have also confirmed we will not be returning to competitions in October, and remain committed to providing our players a six week lead time into contact rugby.

Online player registration continues to look healthy, especially in the minis and juniors sections of rugby clubs and coaching registration is vibrant too with almost 4,000 coaches and 30,000 players already signed up. The process has been slower for senior players and referees, but we expect that this is linked to the fact that competitions are net yet on in this area – but we will keep a careful eye here and react appropriately when necessary.

The professional game has returned safely to competitive rugby with the Welsh Derbies over recent weeks which is a credit to all involved in this area of the game. And, whilst we are not featuring the in the latter stages of PRO14, we have both the Dragons and Scarlets facing their quarter-finals in the Challenge Cup against Bristol and Toulon respectively. We have undertaken 1,962 tests to date with only one positive result which was managed swiftly and in line with our protocols and Public Health Wales and Government guidelines which can be found here: https://www.wru.wales/return-to-rugby/