Cockerill was removed from training over COVID scare
Richard Cockerill had his own Covid scare this week. On Monday night, his son had a temperature of 38C. The Edinburgh head coach, following strict guidelines, stayed away from training the following day.
“We took him for a test and thankfully that came back negative, so I was back in Wednesday,” he reported.
A positive test would have seen the former England hooker unable to supervise his team’s preparations for their opening match of the new Pro14 season against Ospreys at Murrayfield on Saturday, and possibly their second match away to Munster next Saturday as well.
“I am the head coach and want to be here but not to the detriment of the team,” Cockerill explained. “We all have a responsibility and the rules apply to everybody. Whether you are me or a junior player or a senior international, there are guidelines you have to abide by and if that takes you out for a day, or a week, or two weeks, that is the circumstances.
“We just have to get on with it. That is where we are at. That is society. If we all think ‘the rules don’t apply to me’, we will end up in a place we don’t want to be.”
Cockerill speaks from experience. Edinburgh have already had a dalliance with the new reality.
Two weeks ago, a day before their European Challenge Cup quarter-final in Bordeaux, it was revealed one of their academy players had tested positive for coronavirus, forcing three other academy players – who had attended the same house party – to self-isolate.
Their actions earned a public dressing down from Scotland’s National Clinical Director Jason Leitch, who highlighted their breach of restrictions on social gatherings – and the protocols agreed with Scottish Rugby to allow the sport to resume – in the Scottish Government’s daily briefing.
“There was an internal disciplinary and action has been taken,” Cockerill said on Friday. “It is an internal matter and I can assure you that those players have been dealt with appropriately.
“We have our own guidelines and guidelines from the government, all of which are hard and fast and pretty strict. Some of our players went outside that and have been dealt with. That was a serious matter and still is. If you are going to be in this professional environment, you have to take the rules and regulations very seriously. You don’t want to put anybody at risk.”
By the time Cockerill took his own son for a test, he already had another Covid incident on his hands.
Scotland flanker Jamie Ritchie went into isolation at the beginning of the week after a member of his family had contact with a potential positive case.
The 24-year-old, who has two young children of his own, is unavailable for Saturday’s Ospreys date, but should be able to resume training by the middle of next week, before the trip to face Munster.
Glasgow have a similar scenario this weekend, unable to call on the services of Scotland prop Zander Fagerson and flanker Tom Gordon in order to – get used to hearing this phrase in the coming weeks – “comply with the necessary Scottish Government Covid-19 isolation protocols and to protect the medical integrity of the wider squad”.
“We are being very cautious around where Jamie’s at,” Cockerill said. “Depending on whether it’s a direct contact, or a contact of a contact, affects the length of time you have to isolate. For some people it’s 14 days, for some it’s 10, for some it’s seven.
“Jamie is a good professional; he has not put himself at any risk whatsoever. This is nothing to do with how he has conducted himself. It is purely bad luck.
“The likelihood is that Jamie has nothing wrong with him and the chances of him contracting it are very, very slim but we don’t want to take that risk. We are being very cautious for obvious reasons, otherwise you take out half a dozen players. Of course it is a frustration but within the grand scheme of things with what is happening with Covid, we have to manage it as best we can.”
It really has been a tough week for rugby in Europehttps://t.co/3PkEIoS9h3
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 2, 2020
Cockerill believes such incidents will become a “weekly occurrence” with all sporting teams, a point illustrated by the latest developments at French side Racing 92 and England’s Sale Sharks.
At Edinburgh, testing occurs 48 hours after a game and no contact training such as set-piece work takes place until the results are returned, so no-one is at risk of contact with an infected person.
As well as rugby training, the club have also taken much of the players’ weights regime and physical conditioning work outside. All team meetings are conducted in Murrayfield’s large corporate rooms, with social distancing observed and players wearing face masks. They must also sit two metres apart when they are having lunch together.
“You just have to be very diligent around it because as we’ve seen, one (academy) player has tested positive and thankfully our process and protocols were so strong that that person didn’t take anyone else out,” Cockerill added.
“The key is that as it becomes more the norm, we don’t start to relax our standards. We have to be very careful over what we do in our daily lives and mitigate as much risk as possible.”
Just when everyone was looking forward to a fantastic Super Sunday conclusion to the Premiership… https://t.co/Ddznum0Scn
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 2, 2020
If only Covid was all Cockerill had to worry about. After the opening two rounds of league fixtures, he will lose anything from a dozen to 18 or 20 of his best players to international calls for eight weeks. Some of them might be released back to the club periodically, although four successive Monday night fixtures during November make the logistics of that arrangement more of a lottery.
“It is certainly different, isn’t it?” Cockerill mused as he reflected on the challenges of the forthcoming season, in which only the first eight rounds of Pro14 fixtures have been confirmed.
“With fixture dates, different days, we don’t know what we are going to be doing post-Christmas, there are more internationals than there have ever been, plus a global pandemic… it is going to be a challenging one.
“We have just got to manage it as best we can and react to what is happening and be flexible. There are going to be changes, good and bad, along the way. We just have to get our best team on the field, prepare them as best we can and win as many games as we can.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Absolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
5 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
14 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
14 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
5 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to comments