Horowhenua-Kāpiti rugby boss moots post-virus Bruce Steel Cup games

It will be rugby, but not as we know it.

Horowhenua-Kāpiti Rugby Union, like all sporting bodies, has seen their code and all annual competition grind to an abrupt halt during the Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown.

But while the silence at sports grounds is deafening, there was a glimmer of hope the shrill of a referee's whistle could still blow yet.

There was still a chance of some rugby in 2020, and HKRU was preparing itself and considering all options should there be a green light for a resumption of play this season.

Should New Zealand move along the Covid-19 response levels in the coming weeks, it could see players training together under alert level 2, with a resumption of play under Level 1.

HKRU Chief Executive Corey Kennett said while that was a best case scenario, there would still need to be another short delay leading into any resumption of matches to ensure players were fit enough for the rigours of contact.

HKRU was liaising regularly with clubs and schools around possible time-frames "realising we may have to be creative," he said.

And Kennett said while there was already a top-level decision to shelve Heartland representative competition for 2020, there still remained a possibility that there could be some provincial rugby played.

It was all dependant on the coronavirus, of course, but Kennett was open to the idea of a makeshift competition involving the closest neighbour unions in the Heartland competition, Wanganui and Wairarapa Bush.

Each season the three unions contested the Bruce Steel Cup and - virus-willing - could possibly form the basis of a mini-competition later in the season to give the first-class calendar some data entry for the annals of the 2020 yearbook.

But there are a number of factors that could affect a delayed rugby calendar should it spill into the later spring months, the biggest of which would be clash with summer sports that would similarly be champing at the bit for action.

There are also several social factors to take into account, as a later season could rule out farmers who would be in the thick of a calving season, or anybody who had switched priority to working weekends to ease financial burdens.

An elongated season could also clash with a myriad of other traditional pursuits, like hunting or fishing.

So, while it remains uncertain just what time-honoured age grade and club competitions might look like, any rugby would be better than no rugby at all for players and spectators starved of action.