As we have done throughout this period, everyone involved with running the rugby club are working really hard behind the scenes to offer the most we can to our members in a safe environment despite the various challenges of doing so, and I just wanted to provide a short update.

There is hope that things will begin to open up in line with the easing of wider restrictions over the coming weeks and based on yesterdays announcement that very restricted training groups now being allowed to resume non-contact training, we will be looking to initiate a phased return to training starting this week.

Mens Senior Training will commence this week in a very restricted manner, as things stand with a maximum of 15 people allowed on the club premises at any one time. Provided this proves successful we will look to add in for sessions youth rugby the following week, with minis hopefully able to start back the week after that, around the end of November. We expect we will need to remain flexible in terms of how this operates in practice, as regulations and guidance change and the situation develops. It goes without saying we are committed to operating in line with restrictions, and making sure we can safely apply them as we open back up.

In terms of matches, the 1st XV will compete in the Energia Community Series as soon as restrictions permit it, and all other competitions are aiming for a January start. You may have also seen that the season has been officially extended until late May, so we are hopeful of plenty of rugby looking ahead.

We look forward to seeing you all as soon as possible, and we will endeavour to keep you updated as things change.

I’d like to thank you all for your continued support, as you can imagine this is a challenging time for the club but we are determined to return stronger when we are able to. I expect like me, many of you have been reminded of what a huge part of your life the club is and we look forward to seeing you all as soon as possible.

We hope to be providing more positive updates soon.