The government has announced a framework for the return of recreational team sport which is applicable from Saturday 11 July. This is a welcomed development and a positive step towards the return of some form of competitive rugby. The framework was developed following discussions with other team sports, Sport England and the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The next step is for the RFU to develop its own rugby action plan, based on the framework, specifically considering the Coronavirus transmission risk and demonstrating mitigations and any adaptations to the game that are required. This will need to be agreed to by government, PHE and HSE before it can be implemented within clubs. We will keep you updated on the outcome of these discussions.

The RFU will update the game as to when it can move to the next stage of the Return to Community Rugby Roadmap in the coming weeks. For now, we remain at Stage B of the roadmap – see the attached document below.