No matches but Blacks must keep busy, urges Poste

MARTIN Poste believes a further delay to the start of the season was inevitable and urged Northwich Rugby Club to be productive in the meantime.

The RFU announced last week that there would be no games played in its competitions before January at the earliest.

However, a ‘to do’ list at Moss Farm isn’t shorter in the absence of matches, according to Blacks’ director of rugby.

“It came as no surprise at all,” he said in response to the governing body’s decision.

“They’ve justified it on the grounds that we have some certainty for a few months, at least in part, and that helps us.

“It has gifted to us something that the club probably hasn’t had since the introduction of
league rugby, and that’s time.

“We should use it to reflect, and work out where we want to go from here.”

Since his appointment in 2015, Northwich have been promoted twice.

Blacks have also won the Cheshire RFU Vase on two occasions to become the most decorated team in the tournament’s history.

Not only that, Poste’s team have emerged as victors from close to three quarters of the 132 competitive games to date during his tenure.

But the next challenge, establishing the club at a higher level on and off the field, is likely to be the most difficult.

And it’s there Poste feels everybody’s focus should be until the turn of the year.

He plans to talk to the senior players before training on Thursday about what the RFU decision earlier this week means for them.

Northwich secured promotion to fifth tier of the English Clubs Championship for the first time after last season had to end early because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But, almost six months on, a date for their North Premier debut feels no nearer.

For now, they must wait for the RFU’s adult competitions group to recommend how it might make fixtures played in a truncated 2020-21 campaign ‘meaningful’.

Poste said: “The players are grown-ups, and I’ll tell them the truth.

“If they want to see the club play league rugby at the highest level in its history, they need to do their bit by continuing to turn up to training.

“It’s frustrating for them, and some will feel as though they’re locked into an interminable pre-season.

“That presents the coaching staff with a challenge; can we engage them better? Can we be creative? Can we make those sessions an integral part of their week so lads look forward to coming down?

“I appreciate it’s a long time since we played a proper game.”

For now, the community game remains at Stage D on a six-part road map that ends with the return of 15-a-side rugby.

Since the start of this month, restricted sessions with ‘adapted contact’ – limited tackling, unopposed lineout drills and two-on-two in a ruck – have been allowed.

The RFU has said that it continues to talk to the Government, and officials at Public Health England, about moving to Stage E and, if that happens before Christmas, friendly fixtures could be arranged.

Poste added: “That feels optimistic, and some of the fundamental questions I asked at the start of the virus outbreak remain unanswered.

“Until a vaccine is widely available or they develop drugs that treat COVID-19, who is going to be in a position to say it’s safe enough to play?

“There simply aren’t the resources at our level of the game, less so now given the parlous financial state of both the RFU and clubs, to pay for a sophisticated testing regime.

“Those player welfare issues must take priority, and as director of rugby that’s at the forefront of my mind given that it is my responsibility – one I take very seriously – to sanction our involvement in competitive rugby.

“My sense is that guys in roles like mine, working at the coalface if you like, haven’t been included enough in purposeful conversations with decision-makers.

“We’re asked to reply to questions sent to us, often with no explanation at all as to why, or how our answers will be used, but it’s not the same as a proper two-way exchange in which you can have confidence your views have value and are taken into consideration.

“Perhaps that’s something for us to ponder as clubs, and think about whether presenting a united front might be more effective.”