South African rugby’s Covid-19 timeline

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Take a look at the timeline of significant rugby events and/or announcements throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

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  • 11 March: Covid-19 management committee meets for the first time.
  • 12 March: Guinness PRO14 season is suspended indefinitely.
  • 13 March: World Rugby cancels the women’s World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series tournament due to be played in Stellenbosch on 28 and 29 March.
  • 13 March: SA Rugby cancels Junior Springbok home and away internationals in April and May.
  • 14 March: Sanzaar suspends Vodacom Super Rugby for the foreseeable future.
  • 16 March: SA Rugby suspends all national team training camps and business travel and orders cost savings; postpones kick-off of Provincial Rugby Challenge with a view to return to play on 25 April.
  • 16 March: SA Rugby announces actions and issues guidelines on safe practices to all rugby bodies.
  • 18 March: SA Rugby announces suspension of all rugby until end of April and that discussions are under way to reschedule competitions to exclude international travel and be played behind closed doors.
  • 20 March: World Rugby cancels the Junior World Championship scheduled to take place in Italy in June.
  • 23 March: President Cyril Ramaphosa announces nationwide lockdown to start from midnight on 26 March.
  • 24 March: The International Olympic Committee postpones the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games until 2021.
  • 27 March: SA Rugby, MyPlayers (players’ organisation), the South African Rugby Employers’ Organisation (SAREO) and Sports Employees’ Unite (SEU) confirm establishment of a joint working group to manage the response to the crisis.
  • 3 April: The Rugby industry announces progress on an Industry Savings Plan (ISP) to safeguard the games future; plan to go through approval processes.
  • 21 April: Industry Financial Impact Plan to make significant cuts in ‘global’ South African rugby budget confirmed.
  • 15 May: Deadline expires for individuals to cancel contracts under the terms of the Industry Financial Impact Plan.

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Photo: Gallo Images

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