Rugby Australia have announced that after this weekend all games will be played behind closed doors in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
However, this weekend’s Super Rugby and Buildcorp Super W matches will go ahead as scheduled with fans being allowed to attend as normal.
That means that the Queensland Reds will take on the Bulls in Brisbane on Saturday and the Brumbies will take on the Waratahs on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the relocated fixture between the Sunwolves and the Crusaders will also go ahead in Brisbane tomorrow.
As well as those Super Rugby games the Waratahs Women side will take on RugbyWA Women and the Brumbies Women will host the Queensland Reds Women in a double-header in Sydney.
Speaking on the decision Rugby Australia’s Chief Executive Raelene Castle admitted that she wishes that it didn’t have to come to this, but that they will follow the government’s instructions.
“This is a position that no one in our game wanted to be in, but we have made this decision in line with the Government response to this ongoing global health issue and in the best interests of our players, members and fans. The Prime Minister made it clear in his address to the media this afternoon that the Government’s advice is a staged response to this issue and that by Monday the next stage of their response is to advise against non-essential large gatherings. We are confident from this advice that there is no significant or imminent health risk to our athletes or fans for the weekend’s matches. At all times, any decision we make is with the health and welfare of those people front of mind. As this situation is evolving constantly, we will continue to review our position on a daily basis,” she said.
At this moment in time there is no talk of the current seasons being postponed due to the outbreak, but with a number of sporting events being suspended in the past couple of days, it would be no surprise to see southern hemisphere competitions follow a similar route in the coming days.
