ACTION PACKED: Old Collegians in action against Buffels from Aliwal North in a previous encounter Picture: SUPPLIED
It looks likely that club rugby is over before it even started. What looked like a promising start to 2021, has evaporated in the space of a couple of months.
The Border rugby season usually runs from April-August, but to date not a single league fixture has been played.
There were high hopes at the beginning of the year, with clubs given the go-ahead to start training and to have contact sessions. A couple of friendlies took place right across the region, with teams preparing for a daunting season.
It was all good, considering 2020 went by without a single match played. A communique from Border Rugby suggested that the league program would commence in the first week of June. That was until South Africa went into lockdown level 4.
That brought a halt to all amateur rugby in South Africa. This also prompted Border Rugby to send out another communique stating that league fixtures would be postponed indefinitely.
In July, SA Rugby announced that all amateur and club rugby, which had been suspended across the country due to Covid regulations, was permitted to resume on August 2, following detailed reviews by various provincial unions.
Border Rugby sent out a notice to clubs to discuss the resumption of the league program. But clubs were surprised when SA Rugby administrator, Basil Haddad, who is in charge at Border Rugby, send out a notice reading: “After consultation with all stakeholders, it was decided that all Border Rugby Union leagues/competitions will remain suspended until further notice.”
With time running out, it looks pretty certain that no official league matches will take place this year.
The popular Old Collegians 10s will, for a second year running, also be suspended until next year.
