Hopefully by spring all levels of game will return

A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME

- JEFF PROBYN

At last it’s over and we can begin to look forward to better times ahead as 2020 slides away and a new year opens its door.

With virtually an entire season lost by clubs across the country, the new year brings hope that by mid to late spring we may at last be able to get back to playing at all levels.

The year 2020, in rugby terms, has had its ups and downs with (thankfully) the top club level being able to continue to bring rugby to an audience of fans including newcomers who may have been watching the sport for the first time mainly because of lockdown.

Although the standard of some of the games was questionable, at least it was out there bringing the game alive again.

We also had the unique experience of a new competition with the Autumn Nations Cup and a different pool format containing some new teams as a possible idea for a future upgrade of the Six Nations, should a replacement ever be needed.

The Nations Cup was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy year of stale and stalled rugby, held back by virus restrictions.

This was the first time outside of a World Cup that Tier 2 nations have been seen live on TV playing against our Six Nations teams.