THE Rugby Football Union has published a six-stage roadmap for the return of community rugby.

The RFU suspended all rugby activity on March 16 amid the coronavirus pandemic, before subsequently ending the 2019/20 season on March 20, using a best playing record method to determine league positions.

It has now published a national roadmap of how community rugby can return, although it has not set a timescale for each stage.

Stage A is individual training with one other person, which was reached on May 13 when the Goverment permitted rugby club pitches to be opened and for two

individuals to meet together.

Stage B is individual training in small groups, with the Government's latest easing of lockdown measures permitting this from the start of June. Here six individuals from different households may now meet up and engage in individual training.

The RFU acknowledged that we may remain at stage B for a while with potential amendments coming within the stage to reflect any revised government position, for example, an enlargement of the number of people permitted.

Stage C would begin to see larger groups being able to train together, such as forwards or backs or age grade groupings and would likely involve more interactive activity other than simply fitness and conditioning work.

A move to stage D is likely to be triggered by a more significant relaxation of social distancing measures and when the risk element of typical rugby training activities that involve close and face-to-face contact and the typical physical contact of rugby training is deemed acceptable.

Stage E allows for preparation for return to play and to matches (albeit possibly still with adaptations/restrictions in place), with a minimum of four weeks to be spent in stage E before any progression to stage F, to allow players to get match fit.

Stage F allows for a return to competitive rugby with matches between players from different clubs, albeit again with the possibility of still having adaptations/restrictions in place.

The RFU acknowledged that there are several implications of the stages return to play, with two review groups set to provide recommendations later in June on the possible adjustments should the season be unable to start by its usual point in early September.