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Hong Kong’s top rugby leagues cancelled over Covid-19 concerns; all youth and community leagues to resume in April
- Rugby Union chief confirms 33 senior teams opted to withdraw from competitions primarily due to family, career or national team commitments
- ‘We certainly haven’t shut up shop until the end of the season’ said McRobbie, reiterating that many clubs still wanted to resume competition this month
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Hong Kong men’s and women’s Premiership seasons have been cancelled over Covid-19 concerns, the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU) announced on Monday.
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The decision comes after the Ursus Fitness gym cluster and subsequent quarantining of rugby members earlier in the month caused further delay to the resumption of Hong Kong men’s and women’s Premiership domestic leagues.
After liaising with its members, HKRU CEO Robbie McRobbie confirmed that 39 clubs wanted to resume competition this month while 33 opted to withdraw for a variety of reasons.
All remaining rugby leagues will return in a modified format this month, with youth clubs back this weekend and seniors from April 10. All will continue in their respective ‘return to rugby’ protocol timelines.
“After the Ursus gym suspension, we got training going again but were aware that there were still concerns amongst sections of the community. Over the last week, before we finalised formats of the league competitions, we consulted senior and youth clubs to make sure we really understood the thinking amongst the player base,” McRobbie said.
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