No try celebrations among new Premiership measures to curb spread of Covid

Premiership Rugby have released a host of new measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the competition.

A ban on ice baths and no face-to-face try celebrations are among the tightened Covid-19 measures agreed ahead of this week’s action.

Five Premiership fixtures, including next Saturday’s East Midlands derby between Northampton and Leicester, have been cancelled for coronavirus-related reasons in the last twelve days.

Ice baths during trainings are now no longer being permitted, while all meetings must now either be conducted virtually and/or outside as socially-distanced gatherings with face coverings.

Use of changing rooms will be limited to showering after outdoor training sessions and a review of schedules must be undertaken by clubs in order to reduce the amount of time spent by players at training facilities. 

On game days, there can be no face-to-face try celebrations and warm-ups must now be filmed, in addition to the continuous recording of all training and games.

Non-playing playing squad members are also now also not allowed to attend matches unless as a travelling reserve, with food after games and training being a “grab and go” takeaway system.