What if Newcastle Falcons lose a player to the virus cannot complete games, do they still go up or is the league left intact? Do YC get a reprieve? Do Sarries get a reprieve?

I hope someone is planning for all the eventualities!!! I doubt the RFU are!

What happens then is anyone's guess.

Dont think there is much danger to the crowd as they are rarely stood cheek to jowl and often have plenty of wind swirling around them (bit like the back 3)

4 weeks ago Italy had barely heard of Covid-19. Take a look at the webcams of St Marks Sq, the Rialto Bridge, The Colosseum etc etc  to see the impact it is having.

Runitback wrote: So it appears highly likely over the next couple of weeks a rugby player is going to be infected, so presumably his/her club cannot complete their fixtures . . so what happens to that league and promotion / relegation? What if Newcastle Falcons lose a player to the virus cannot complete games, do they still go up or is the league left intact? Do YC get a reprieve? Do Sarries get a reprieve? I hope someone is planning for all the eventualities!!! I doubt the RFU are!

 

I hope that when guidance comes it steers a mid-range course between over-reaction (see exhibit B above) and denial (exhibit A above) - neither are very sensible IMHO

Can't help but wonder if this  automatic removal of specific words isn't a bit of a waste of time 🤔

It also leads me to wonder who exactly decides which words are not for printing 😲

All very reminiscent of an episode of Round the Horne having a dig at BBC censors (Series 1 Episode 4) which, funnily enough, along with some Goons and who knows what other stuff, the snowflakes at the BBC have now seen fit to deem unfit for listening - happily, I still have the cassette's which I play regularly on my way to games in my very old car �£😂�£

As I've said before, this is really serious stuff 

Hopefully this isn't the last weekend of rugby as we know it for a while, but pretty bleak picture as things stand. If you are going to a game this w/e - enjoy it!

At this rate I'll have to spend time with the family this weekend... 

I think in terms of promotion & relegation, from the top Sarries and Falcons with played 14 won 14 should change places. YC with 2 point should be relegated however who to replace them with is open to conjecture with Richmond, RP and Rams all still in with a shout. Caldy have won N2N and should be promoted to Nat 1, while Hull I's would have to win all their games with a bonus to currently get to 13th place and they play The Club tomorrow in one of their catch up games which should make the likelihood even less likely., likewise Canterbury are in a similar position need 5 bonus points wins to get to 13th. N2S is a very different proposition with 4 teams vying for top spot. Between Midlands Premier and N2N Bournville have already won their league and deservedly so. We at Sunny Scunny have also been relegated I don't see any reason why there should be a problem with us two changing places. Syston likewise have won their league at Midlands 1 East and as there is a vacancy due to SL's demise I don't see why they shouldn't be promoted either. Similarly 1 West is not straight forward with 3 teams all in with a shout of winning the league. So some straightforward decisions can be made and others lie in the hands of the AKAS RFU.

I’ve started hibernation as of today, plenty of films to watch, books to read and whisky to sample 🥃

I must admit to being a little shocked at the casual and complacent attitudes of some on here. People getting upset at the prospect of the season ending now is quite worrying. This is very, very, serious stuff and absolutely everyone must get behind the effort to slow the spread or lots more will die unnecessarily.

We all need to understand what the measure are intended to achieve - to slow the spread of the virus as much as possible and not to stop it. That's going to be impossible now. Lives - even of old people - are far more important than a game.

Games are currently being called off against official advice.  Currently the only people who need to self isolate are those with symptoms, family members, friends, team mates etc should carry on as normal, no need to cancel games just one player has temperature.

But with the government likely to impose further restrictions this week and then the RFU to pontificate after that we may have just seen the seasons last games. 

If the RFU do decide to cancel the season please do it on Monday and not on a Friday.

Looks like the Premiership will be suspended from tomorrow

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/51898387" rel="nofollow - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/51898387

Who decides the fate of the other divisions ? The RFU for every other level except the Premiership ?

 good one.. 

I'm afraid your suggestion for deciding final league positions is fraught with inaccuracies and unfairness, as is another suggestion elsewhere that all remaining games are registered as 0-0 draws and see where that gets us

Surely if we have to apply some arbitrary way of "forecasting" what results might have been then surely there should be some weighting in favour of the form teams rather than those who started well back in September/October

As an example

North Prem - Billingham won their first 13 games but have only won 3 of their last 8  - they are currently 4th some 10 points behind the leaders albeit with a game in hand. If your criteria were applied they would take the title - does that seem fair or indeed likely?

Mids Prem - Newport (my club admittedly) currently 3rd, 4 points behind Sheffield in 2nd with a game in hand. We've won every game since our last loss in the middle of December including the only defeat of champions Bournville (whereas Sheffield have lost 3 of their last 6) but would clinch 2nd ahead of Newport if your criteria were applied - is that fair or likely?

I'm sure there are similar instances across the leagues

I appreciate your efforts in putting forward a possible solution but I fear it is neither practical or fair - having said that I have no idea at this stage how it could be done in a more analytical way where probabilities come into play rather that historical results going back to the early season

Say you reduce National 1 to 14 teams (if that is the agreed solution).

You still need one team up from ational 2 N and S - Caldy obviously, but which side from South.There are four within six points with five games to go.

And now you need to demote 4 sides. OK that one is pretty clear cut as Mose are 17 points behind Stortford who hae a game in hand.

I think they went for three of four National 2 diisons - so some sides will be promoted. There will be cut offs in each of the Premier leages and they will be being decided by the odd point.

If you declare the season  null and void - then the Championship get another season of beating Yorkshire. Given their playing budget is alledgedly just the £600k they were getting from the RFU, cutting that in half is going to hurt them proportionally more than the other Championship sides. So I suspect the mismatches will be even bigger.

And Caldy deserve to be promoted as they are unbeaten.

As for play-offs - would it be unfair to scrap them for one season, so an extra team at the higher level is saved?  I'm sure the two teams likely to finish second in the lower league would have issues, but if the league season isn't going to be concluded I'm not sure how you can justify any further fixtures between teams who may not have actually earned the right to make the play-offs (without wishing to offend any club currently battling for the top two!)

Are Saracens down already? I thought the reason for the additional points dedection was to make sure they fnished bottom as the 'accepted relegation' was deemed not to be within the rules.  If season abandoned rhen Saracens (and Leeds) potentially stay up.

All these ideas and theory's are like the national news spreading unnecessary "false news" lets wait and see what the RFU decide before reacting. Bearing in mind the RFU's record this may be after any threat has gone.  

On the other hand,we could all have gone to hell in a handcart.

YESTERDAY....Sunday the Ealing Trailfinders U18`s colts,  away game against Teddington was cancelled when a player phoned in and stated he was "unwell" from the Teddington squad. The four coaches, two from each team discussed what to do and one from each coaching team suggested we play and the other two said cancel.

It was decided to cancel after both clubs had fielded a team and were warming up and 15 minutes from kick off !. 

In reality if players are not allowed to train as a group for a month there's no way they can restart the season mid April and play all the outstanding fixtures so where do we think we are all going with this - perhaps winners of the various Prediction Leagues should be signed up to the Pools Panels?? (That IS a joke obv!) Going to be hellishly boring for the next few months I know that!! 

In reality if players are not allowed to train as a group for a month there's no way they can restart the season mid April and play all the outstanding fixtures so where do we think we are all going with this - perhaps winners of the various Prediction Leagues should be signed up to the Pools Panels?? (That IS a joke obv!) Going to be hellishly boring for the next few months I know that!! 

Please note if the season is not complete then there are no winners of any prediction leagues especially Midlands Premier and SW Premier so there will be nobody to sit on the "Pools Panel" to predict the relevant results. 

http://www.nowirul.org.uk/nowirul.nsf/URL/DHUB-BMRQJP?open" rel="nofollow - http://www.nowirul.org.uk/nowirul.nsf/URL/DHUB-BMRQJP?open

No, but there are plenty of us on here that follow these leagues, so it's still relevant. 

Find it difficult to understand such a comment.

Think your comment might be different if you have family members in isolation or know someone directly affected - I have a niece currently trying to get home from Europe where borders keep shutting in front of her.........

Rugby's off - probably for the rest of this season - move on.

Huge implications for Clubs, players, associated businesses etc of course, but lets put this in to perspective, 

THIS IS NOT A RUGBY ISSUE, ITS A COUNTRYWIDE or European Health concern. 

Two teams kicking a ball about for an hour and a half on a Saturday comes a very distant second.......

Today, the media have gone into overdrive. On TV,  they have basically said the same thing over and over again, they are ranking up the negatives to breaking point, scaring the vulnerable and preying on anyones misfortune that they can use as news. They even had the audacity to question the experts at the PM's announcement like it was some sort of parliamentary enquiry. The media is shameful.

We need to keep calm.

I say, we close down the national media for 30 days and watch 80% of the world's problems go away.

We need a Flack's law Stat, something that makes the journalist, not his employer, personally financially responsible for the accuracy of what appears under his byline. Then they might actually do some research before indulging their creativity. 

By the way, my son's event business has seen every booking cancelled through May, likely he'll lose it and his home

'much ado about nothing' is about as far from reality as is possible

At 67, I'm in the risk category but if I had a vote I'd say forget the delay, get everyone exposed ASAP, that's the shortest route to ending this crisis and the fastest way to protect my family

By the way, are churches to be closed? If not, why not? 

Anyone else notice the numbers infected are trivial in hot countries, this particular virus would appear to require 15° or less to propagate, perhaps Gobal Warming is the solution 

The phrase ‘Physician, heal thyself’ spring to mind

Same format this year? 

I'm gutted I probably won't be lifting the league and cup trophies at home this year. 

It is also used when one league has a team drop out.

I do not believe it affects the National league tables.

But it might mean Tonbridge are assumed to beat Fylde.

Harsh on those who are still in with a shout, but probably te best that can be done in the circumstance.

Lets see if we can get a season in next year.

Conversely, and given the ACR is still out for consultation AIUI, that's an open invitation for clubs/aggrieved owners to lawyer up.

I think given the circumstances the most likely outcome is either 

 - to void this season. Go again next season as though 19-20 never happened, and kick implementation of ACR to the season after that.

- to declare the season closed on the current tables. 

The second option is yet another invitation to the lawyers. 

Probably easier to go for what you might call the "Dallas Shower Scene" approach and treat this season as "all a dream."

And yes, I would be saying that regardless of where my club was in the table.

Just on your last point, in bold, I agree. If it's anything like my place of work then they stuck a date on it so it wasn't open ended, but the conversations haven't even started yet (because no one knows what's going to happen) and it's a paper date rather than because they're expecting anything to be different (or even God help us clearer) by then. I agree with you that I'd be astonished if anyone at HQ thinks we'll be playing again then.

They may have the money for litigation 

and perhaps Newcastle won’t 

I did post that weeks before that RFU announcement to put it in context. But I stand by the point, if players want to play, let them. 

No matter what route they take, there will be litigation regardless (clubs who have already earned promotion will want it). I think the only proper way would be that clubs who are top and already confirmed champions of their league should be promoted providing there is a club in the league above already relegated to swap out. 

My real example is that North Walsham are unable to be caught at the top of L1N, while Guildford are unable to get out of the relegation zone in N3LSE so you'd just simply swap them over.

They might. Particularly the nouveau riche clubs since they'll have the wealthy backer to support such a challenge.

Fat Albert wrote: By the way, are churches to be closed? If not, why not?

CofE is suspending public worship for the time being (other churches are available, no idea what they've said).  SWMBO is wondering what she'll do on a Sunday morning.  So am I, but that's because the orchestra I am involved in has cancelled rehearsals and concerts too.

Certainly now I think anything Anglican in the UK has been suspended - CoE, CoI, CiW, SCE. Don't know what the RCs are doing exactly, but I think they're on the same page.

If Saracens Come Down - Newcastle Goes Up - Surely we want to see the back of Carnegie too so the option sucks about pretending it never happened. 

The Adult Male Future Competition Structure consultation sessions due to take place between Monday 23 March to Tuesday 14 April - all those booked on these sessions will be contacted. The aim is to ensure a decision on future structures is taken by the Friday 12 June Council meeting, a new plan for consultations will be communicated in due course.

Surely better to complete these meeting electronically (video conference or conference call) so that they meet the non-essential socialising criteria set out by government. RFU have the technology for a group conference call - they've done it before with members of this forum.

US CDC research shows that chloroquine also has strong potential as a prophylactic (preventative) measure against coronavirus in the lab, while we wait for a vaccine to be developed.  Chloroquine & Hydroxochlroquine are inexpensive, globally available drugs that has been in widespread human use since 1945 against malaria, autoimmune and various other conditions.

RS wrote: On the subject of using antimalarial drugs for COVID-19 treatment, I've compared COVID-19 cases versus malaria incidence by country.... I downloaded all of the data for 234 countries, incidence of total COVID-19 cases (as of 3/17/2020) versus the incidence of malaria in those countries (various sources, kinda messy matching everything up in Excel). RESULTS, Multi-country average malaria cases per thousand, COVID-19 cases per million, in three classes of countries based on malaria incidence: Top 40 Malaria countries: 212 malaria = 0.2 COVID-19 Next 40 Malaria countries: 7.3 malaria = 10.1 COVID-19 Remaining (81-234) countries: 0.00 malaria = 68.7 COVID-19 In all my years of data analysis I have never seen such a stark and strong relationship: Countries with malaria basically have no COVID-19 cases (at least not yet).

The UK Government have known about the immunity to Covid-19 granted by chloroquine for more than a month since on February 26, 2020, they added chloroquine to the list of medicines that cannot be parallel exported from the UK.  Chloroquine was never on this list before.

A published medical trial indicates that 75% of patients who test positive for Covid-19 are disease free within 6 days, 100% within 10 days of chlorquine treatment.

It works by making cells absorb more Zinc from the bodies nutrient system, the zinc inhibits the RNA virus from replicating.

Please can someone tell me why this information, which confirms that a drug that has been in widespread use for more than 70 years and whose contra indications are very well documented and that is available in very large quantities (routinely taken by people living with high malaria risk) has not been made available to the public.

If the above is true this entire pandemic could be over in 2 weeks

References

So drink Gin & Tonic and we will all be fine !

I'm off to start the panic buying..........