The National Rugby League does not want to take any risk in the face of the sharp progression of the Delta and Omicron variants. Its steering committee adopted a new health protocol on Wednesday, December 29, which provides for more coronavirus screening tests for all players.
So far, only unvaccinated Top 14 and Pro D2 players have been tested. From now on, all rugby players, vaccinated or not, will have to be tested at least twice a week. The players and the staff of the vaccinated clubs will have to carry out a test “the day of the first weekly gathering” and another “two days before the scheduled weekend meeting“, explains the League in a press release.
Players who have not received a dose of vaccine will have to do “antigen tests or RT-PCR every 24 hours“. As for the tests carried out on the day of the first meeting of the week and that carried out two days before the meeting, they will have to”must be RT-PCR tests“, specifies the NRL.
For a match to be held, the teams will need to be able to field 23 players, including 15 professionals. If these criteria are not met, a possible postponement of the meeting could be decided. “A club may request the postponement of its match if it does not have 23 players available under professional contract or hope (with six first lines), including a minimum of 15 players under professional contract.“, specifies the League.