Rugby Europe suspends Georgia v Russia, other fixtures for COVID-19 precautions

Games across all Rugby Europe competitions have been suspended through the end of the next month as a result of increasing pandemic figures across Europe. Photo via Rugby Europe.

Agenda.ge, 20 Oct 2020 - 16:28, Tbilisi,Georgia

Georgian national rugby team's Rugby Europe Championship last round fixture against Russia has been postponed as part of Rugby Europe's suspension of all games under its organisation until the end of November, due to worsening COVID-19 situation across the continent.

Originally scheduled for November 1, the game is part of the final round of this year's calendar in the tournament along with Romania hosting Belgium, with no immediate announcement made on new dates.

Despite the creation of Return to Play Protocol, we have to suspend our competitions to preserve the health of our players and our officials who are mostly 'amateurs'."

We cannot expose them to the virus or to quarantine periods that would be problematic for them. We still have to be patient before we can organize our competitions in the best conditions" - Octavian Morariu, President of Rugby Europe

Matches in competitions including the Rugby Europe Championship playoffs, Women XV Senior Championship and Men XV Senior Rugby Europe Trophy, originally scheduled for October, have also been delayed as part of the governing body's decision.

While suspending the calendar due to the "resurgence" of the pandemic across Europe, the organisation said it would work with national rugby unions, health authorities and other agencies on the future scheduling.