A RUGBY president is concerned about the “inevitable drift” away from the sport in the Borders after the 2020/21 competitive season was cancelled.

Scottish Rugby announced last week that plans to begin the club season for amateur and school teams in January 2021 have now been abandoned due to coronavirus, with no competitive rugby to be played until at least spring of next year.

The president of Gala RFC, Ian Dalgleish, says the club understands the decision “to act responsibly and put the safety of players, officials, volunteers and the local communities first”, but remains concerned about the potential impact on the sport.

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“It is of course very disappointing news that there will be no competitive rugby for this season although it was not entirely unexpected,” he said.

“Nevertheless it does raise fresh concern about the long-term threat to grassroots rugby and will increase the probably inevitable drift of players, volunteers, officials, sponsors and spectators from the sport.

“All clubs will need to work extremely hard to counteract this threat and ensure that the game offers the interest, engagement and enjoyment that will retain all these stakeholders in the longer term.”

The season was initially suspended in October, with hopes that the level of coronavirus infection across Scotland would have lowered by enough to resume competitive action early in the new year.

However, it is likely that most clubs will now go over a year without a competitive match after the season was abandoned in March.

Mr Dalgleish says he is hopeful that friendlies between clubs in the Borders can be played in the meantime, “provided infection levels in the area remain low enough and that the Scottish Government, Sport Scotland and the SRU can agree to the resumption of full contact activities”.

Under level 2 restrictions, which the Borders is in, all organised outdoor sport, personal training and coaching for adults and under-18s are permitted, providing appropriate safety measures are taken.

Friendly matches and full contact training are currently prohibited.

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Scottish Rugby says they took the decision to cancel the competitive season because players would be unable to fully and safely prepare for matches due to the current restrictions.

The governing body for rugby union in Scotland also said that travelling to games would be difficult with the new laws regarding journeys between the different levels.

Scottish Rugby’s president Ian Barr says it was a “difficult” decision to cancel the season.

“We know many clubs and schools were looking forward to resuming competitive matches in the new year, but COVID-19 remains an active threat and we must act responsibly, putting the safety of our players, volunteers and their local communities first,” he said.

“We understand the decision will be disappointing, however it is important that we make the right choices to contribute to helping lower the infection rates and support public health guidelines, which can hopefully enable us to return to rugby fully at the right time.”