New Zealand Rugby has confirmed teams from Auckland, North Harbour and Counties Manukau can return to "supervised aerobic training sessions" in small groups in preparation for a planned return to the National Provincial Championship.
NZR says training protocols have been designed to accommodate alert level three requirements with a prioritisation of the health and wellbeing of players, staff and the wider community.
"The place of work for professional rugby players includes the training field and gym and these protocols have been developed in strict adherence to the alert level three settings and in collaboration with the three Auckland based unions and NZR to help our players return to work albeit in a very limited capacity," says NZR general manager community rugby Steve Lancaster.
"Our goal is to help our teams be as well prepared as possible for a return to the NPC once Auckland has moved to alert level two, whenever that may be."
The three Auckland based teams have been unable to return to the NPC, with the region currently operating under COVID-19 alert level three.
The Government’s next alert level announcement is scheduled for Monday October 4.
Breakdown of return protocols:
Training groups are restricted to a maximum of ten people, including players and staff and 60 minutes in duration.
All training must be contactless with physical distancing of at least two metres maintained at all times.
There will be no sharing of equipment (including rugby balls).
Each training group trains separately with a minimum 30-minute gap between one group training and the next arriving at the same outdoor facility.
All players and staff have been tested prior to returning to training.
Contact tracing and daily symptom checks (both player/staff and household) are required before a player or staff member can attend training sessions.
