WHILST I do not write this on behalf of Crediton RFC, it is my personal view that Community Grassroots rugby has been handed something of a conundrum by HM Government and the Rugby Football Union.

Late on Monday we were informed that with effect from December 18, we shall be permitted to play contact rugby against other Clubs subject to playing to the revised laws that will be in effect during the current crisis. Scrums will be taken out of the game and replaced by a free kick and rucks will be outlawed. There are other modifications that will come into play but this is clearly an attempt to reduce contact in the game.

Like all rugby followers throughout the country, I cannot wait for the games to start at local level and, like most followers of the game below the International and Premiership level, it will be good to see rugby played in a more honest, if maybe naive way.

We are all fed up with kick tennis and trundling mauls, we are all fed up with the scrum feed which has become so ridiculous that the name hooker has lost one of its meanings and become obsolete in the game even if the position itself has not.

For some years we have had to put up with the problem of the crooked feed at the scrum. The put-in is so crooked that it cancels any fair competition for the ball and as a consequence, the only option left to the opposition is to try and win a scrum penalty by use of the devious black arts known only to front row forwards!

However, much as we all want to see the players on the pitch representing their Clubs as soon as possible, the fact that the date of return to playing has been given as December 18 is something of a surprise and one wonders quite why this sudden mad rush to get started.

Certainly many players are “chomping at the bit” to get started but I would have thought only when it is proven to be safe to do so.

At the outset of the first lockdown, the “Return to Playing” roadmap was set out in five stages A to F and prior to the current lockdown we were at Stage D.

The plan for playing would not take effect until Stage F had been cleared which would have taken us to January/February. However, we reverted to Stage A at the beginning of this lockdown although the promise was that we would go back to D when the situation changed. Theoretically that would add a month before the start date taking us to February/March.

It seems odd that back in September when the average daily death rate from Covid was far lower than it is now we could not play and yet now the number of deaths is 10 times that figure there is a rush to get going.

We are currently in Tier 2 and, apart from the five days of Christmas, that is how we are likely to stay until the New Year at least. If those five days of respite lead to yet another spike in the figures, then adding further to the risk by playing rugby will only serve to increase the risk.

The law states that we can only meet in groups of six outside and yet we can allow 31 people on a rugby pitch to play the game, it simply does not make sense. Add to that the simple fact that the Club bars would not be allowed to open then there is no material benefit for Clubs to start playing.

Obviously, these are very testing times for everyone, we have all gone through so much, some have paid the ultimate price and it would be irresponsible if our sport contributed to making an already bad situation worse. Perhaps with just a little more patience we could start later but more confident in the knowledge that it would be safe to do so.

Perhaps the worrying aspect of this latest move is that both HM Government and the RFU have clearly passed the ball to Club volunteers to make the decision, let us hope it is not a hospital pass.

These uncertain times have taken their toll in many ways and on many people and with this in mind, two of our rugby players, Ben Wonnacott and Sam Rowe will be taking on the Three Peaks Challenge in an effort to raise money for the RV-ONE (CIC) Mental Health Charity.

They will form part of a group of 23 taking part in the Challenge and will be led by Crediton RFC Fitness Coach Tom Merriman. The Challenge is to climb Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis and all in the space of a weekend in May.

The itinerary is certainly very challenging as follows;

8am - Saturday - Meet by Fort William railway station for a safety briefing and to get to know the group

8.30am - Saturday - Begin the Challenge at Ben Nevis, aiming for a five hour climb.

1.30pm - Saturday - Complete Ben Nevis and travel by minibus to Scafell Pike (six hour drive)

7.30pm - Saturday - Arrive at Scafell Pike and begin the climb, walking for around four hours.

11.30pm - Saturday - Complete Scafell Pike. Hot breakfast provided before driving to Snowdon (four hour drive).

3.30am - Sunday - Arrive at Snowdon and begin climb of around five hours.

8.30am - Sunday - Complete the Three Peaks Challenge!

We wish Ben and Sam all the best in this Challenge and I am sure both would be pleased to receive your support by way of donations however small. Ben said: “I have never done anything like this before, but on the back of a tough year for myself and many others, I feel that now is as good a time as any to take on the challenge and those that know me well, will know that this really will be a challenge for me!

“RV-ONE continues to support people experiencing forms of mental health issues through physical and social development, this could be a range of things, be it paddle boarding to coffee mornings.

“I appreciate that in these times it isn’t always possible to make a donation, but any donations, however big or small would be massively appreciated.”

Good luck Ben and Sam.

Paul Harris