Why can I mingle in a shop but not at rugby?

WITH professional and amateur community Rugby Union clubs teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and closure due to the lockdown there are elements of the British government’s handling of the Covid regulations regarding sport that appear to be contradictory or badly out of step with those that apply to the rest of society.

It is time that, as a Rugby Union fan, Boris Johnson provided some clarity over why the great team sports like ours, and football, that are embedded in this country’s culture, are being subjected to a different, more restrictive set of rules than other parts of society.

The most pressing question is why, as long as social distancing measures are followed when people make visits in their millions to restaurants, pubs, shopping malls, supermarkets and coffee shops around the country, these excursions are permissible, when highly-controlled, organised reduced attendances at matches in outdoor sports stadiums are prohibited?

Why is it that when there is the capacity for far greater social distancing in stadiums than there is in restaurants etc., as well as the benefits of being in the fresh air – which we are told lessens the threat of transmission of the virus significantly – have team sports and their supporters been hit with a blanket attendance ban, and the limited pilot schemes to reintroduce fans shelved?

This requires a detailed, cogent explanation right now to the Rugby Union public, and the sporting public in general, rather than the administrations of team sports being given vague, unspecific statements that the whole experience – from leaving home to returning to it after watching a match in the stadium – is more likely to spread the virus than mass nationwide daily visits to supermarkets by the general public.