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'Something is better than nothing'

By Online Editors
Leinster senior coach Stuart Lancaster.

Leinster senior coach Stuart Lancaster says he is open to the idea of playing games behind closed doors as the Irish province aim to get their impressive season back underway in the near future.

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There is still massive uncertainty surrounding the resumption of the rugby season after the COVID-19 pandemic brought the sporting world to a halt.

Leinster boasted an unbeaten campaign before sport was suspended across the globe, and governing bodies face a difficult task in finding ways to complete their seasons without congesting the fixture calendar .

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Lancaster is hoping to see Leinster back out on the pitch sooner rather than later, but is wary of the need to use “common sense” in managing any potential return to action.

Even if that means playing games behind closed doors.

“There will have to be baby steps to start with,” Lancaster told RTÉ.

“Can we train safely? Can we train in small groups safely? Can we train in larger groups safely? Collectively? Training games? Competitive games?

“My understanding in Ireland is that there are restrictions on large gatherings until September anyway. So from our point of view something is better than nothing.

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“But, equally, nobody wants to rush that process. We’re all aware of the seriousness of the situation in society. We will do what is right for society, not for sport.”

The former England head coach added that there will need to be “compromise” across the board in order to work out a fixture calendar that suits teams at both international and domestic level.

“With international rugby alongside domestic rugby and every stakeholder within that – French league, English league, Pro14, Europe. There’s no doubt it is going to be very tricky to navigate a way through this and satisfy all stakeholders,” Lancaster said.

“There will have to be compromise from everyone.

“I understand the international and the club opinion. Whatever pathway they take the players have to be at the centre of any decisions they make.

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“The danger is that everyone tries to put everything into a very small window or into a window that extends for a whole 12-month period.

“There has to be common sense applied as well. The only way we will solve everything is by everyone giving a bit of ground in order to move the game forward.

“It is also a personal chance to recalibrate what the global game looks like and this is probably the best chance to do it”.

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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