The Rugby League has taken the lead. Faced with the worsening health situation, the LNR, which had convened its steering committee on Monday, announced Wednesday that it would toughen its protocol against Covid-19 for its Top 14 and Pro D2 championships. She explained in a statement that she had made these changes following the latest government measures to address the threat of the Omicron variant.
Among the main announcements, the obligation for “non-immunocovid” (that is to say non-vaccinated) players to “perform tests (antigenic or RT-PCR) every 24 hours (instead of 3 times a week) ”. “The test 48 hours before each match must also be an RT-PCR test”, continues the instance.
In addition to these daily tests, “the wearing of a mask is again compulsory in all establishments open to the public for all subjects of the professional group, with the exception of periods of physical exertion,” said the NRL. It imitates by this decision, its counterparts in basketball, handball and volleyball who have already imposed the wearing of masks for the public in the stands and the people present in the room except the players and coaches. The leaders of the Leagues thus hope to avoid the return to a limited gauge for the matches of championships.
Rugby has been affected in recent days by the Covid-19, with the cancellation of a match between British Barbarians and Samoa, and the setbacks encountered by the Munster and Cardiff teams, stranded in South Africa due to positive cases in their ranks.
