PGB agree new stance on player testing

By Amber Lewis
16/2/22

The Professional Game Board (PGB) have today agreed to a change to the Covid testing protocols across the elite game in England (Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Allianz Premier 15s and the RFU Championship).

Routine weekly testing on all players and staff will pause and testing will focus on those players and management who have symptoms of Covid-19.

Following a recommendation from the Professional Rugby Testing Oversight Group in England after extensive consultation with club medical teams, public health and independent medical experts, the PGB have approved the change which comes in with immediate effect.

Chris Booy, the chair of the PGB said: "The safety of everyone involved in the game and the wider community has been our only priority since the very first outbreak of Covid. Every change we have made to the testing protocols and wider COVID-19 operating standards along the way has been guided by national guidance, expert medical advice and consideration of the risk posed to those involved in the English game – players, staff, management, and supporters.

“The Testing Oversight Group have done a fantastic job in managing the testing policy of the sport and adapting it when required to prioritise the safety of all players and staff – this has included at times the difficult decision to cancel fixtures when it has been the right thing to do to manage risk.

"Following this extensive consultation, we are now able today to align more closely with national guidance and can reduce our testing to focus our testing on players or staff with Covid symptoms. All players and staff will continue to be monitored by their medical teams for those symptoms with any testing requirements and positive cases still coordinated and managed by club medical teams.

"The Government are looking to take a phased approach to get back to ‘business as usual’; with review points and further changes as and when conditions allow. We believe that elite sport should adopt the same approach.

"The latest evidence tells us that the risks are lower with the Omicron variant than they have been since the start of the pandemic.

"One of the key factors in allowing us to move to symptomatic-only testing is the high rate of vaccination in the English game. Currently, the proportion of fully vaccinated players and staff across the Premiership is 97%, in the AP15s 96%, and in the Championship 94%. These rates represent a remarkable achievement from players and staff. In addition, the level of boosters in players and staff is well established and moving at pace.

"We need to remain prepared and vigilant, as the UKHSA continues to monitor for the emergence of new variants of concern and we need to ensure that we can be flexible enough to return to weekly routine testing for all squads at short notice if required."