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The affect of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is set to be felt well into second half of 2020. In conversion with French newspaper Sud Ouest, FFR President Bernard Laporte has now confirmed that the Paris Sevens and World Rugby u20 Championship will not take place as planned.
With the decision on the Paris event set in stone, it seems unlikely that any remaining events on the World Sevens Series will take place prior to the Tokyo Olympics. The Hong Kong and Singapore tournaments have already been moved to October, with Langford, London, and Paris now set to follow.
In fact Laporte suggests that the final Olympic qualification tournament scheduled for June 20 in Chile will also not take place. Olympic officials remain determined that the world’s largest sporting event will take place as planned. If the Games were to proceed and the qualifiers scrapped, it’s not clear how the final spots would be allocated.
Rumors of the u20 Championship’s cancellation have circulated rapidly and Laporte has confirmed that the tournament scheduled to begin on June 28 in Italy will at the very least be postponed. The second-tier u20 Trophy is to be hosted by Spain in September.
Laporte also confirmed that the scheduled tour of France to Argentina in July is unlikely to go ahead. According to the World Rugby Vice-Chair candidate, the entire July test window is in question with Southern Hemisphere unions now in dialogue with insurers about cancelling tours. Falling under the cloud of uncertainty are the planned French Barbarians and Italy tours to North America, and the Women’s Barbarians match in San Diego.
The postponements also cast major doubt over the resumption of domestic competitions worldwide. Major League Rugby initially suspended operations for 30 days though the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation to restrict social gatherings to under 50 for eight weeks suggests that will be extended.
Already cancelled is the inaugural Súper Liga Americana de Rugby season, stopped after just three games. Meanwhile the European divisions are under pressure to complete their seasons prior to July 1 when new contracts of many players will come into effect.
