PH rugby targets no-contact restart

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PH rugby targets no-contact restart
When quarantine measures ease up, Philippine rugby hopes to return to training

The Philippine Rugby Football Union hopes to return to training soon under strict health protocols. 

Although the sport may be known for its hard hits and tackles, local rugby officials said it’s proposing a no-contact training restart. 

The union, led by secretary-general Ada Milby and CEO Jake Letts, have submitted their plans to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), Philippines Sports Commission (PSC) and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). 

“We’ve modified it to fit those safety guidelines, but we unfortunately haven’t had any response yet,” said Milby in a recent POC webinar. 

To meet certain health protocols, the union has proposed to only carry out conditioning drills in the field while practicing the health and safety guidelines of the Department of Health and IATF.

“We will have our own ball, we won’t have any contact with each other, we won’t even pass…  Each phase of the progression is making sure we get all the different hygiene things in place – body temp, contact tracing, all that stuff,” said Milby.

The Philippine Volcanoes, who are currently ranked 41st in the world, have been on hiatus for months due to the pandemic.  

However, rugby teams from other countries have already resumed training under strict health conditions similar to the union’s proposal.

“World Rugby actually sent out some return-to-play guidelines and countries such as Australia, New Zealand, England all follow the same steps that we are proposing,” former Volcanoes captain Letts said. 

“We might not be able to resume community rugby or club training immediately but if we can at least get our Volcanoes – men’s and women’s – back to training, then that helps a lot in the preparation for not only the 2021 SEA Games but also 2022 Asian Games,” Milby added.

The men’s team, which captured the gold in the 30th Southeast Asian Games, fell short of a spot in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics after finishing 4th in the 2019 Asia Rugby Sevens Olympic qualifiers in South Korea.

Meanwhile, the Lady Volcanoes copped a silver in the 2019 SEA Games. – Jillian Velasco/Rappler.com 

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