Club Rugby has responsibly been delayed as Cape Town’s deepening water crisis continues.
The Western Cape Rugby Union (WCRU) made the decision on Thursday evening with its deputy president, Zelt Marais, saying the delay is “beyond our control”.
Club Rugby, which usually commences from April, has been delayed to June. The popular sport wouldn’t be the first affected by the water crisis as junior and club cricket were axed just last week.
“We’ve seen the cricket, baseball and soccer being affected by the drought. But the clubs are all happy about the decision taken. They understand the thinking – we are not God, we can’t change things,” Marais said.
“It’s just one of those unfortunate things. We’ve been asked by the City of Cape Town to put a tentative date forward, and we’ve said 1 June.”
Marais says that the dry fields had resulted in injuries this past weekend during the Cape Town 10s.
“Some of the fields are in a really bad state, and I believe there were quite a few injuries at the Cape Town 10s at the weekend because of the state of the fields, because it’s just so dry. So, it’s about being safety-first now”.
“We had a meeting with the City last week, and they are also having a mass meeting with stakeholders on Saturday from 2pm-5pm in the City Hall.”
Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security; and Social Services, Alderman JP Smith said last week they have begun engaging with sporting federations on the use of sports fields amid the worsening drought crisis.
In a statement Smith said that as far as possible, they will permit the irrigation of sports fields with borehole water to allow key sporting events and tournaments to continue.
“We are engaging with each of the sports codes to ascertain to what extent the various league competitions can continue. Each sports federation is requested to submit a list of their most important fixtures and the City will prioritise the fields required for irrigation with treated effluent or borehole water,” said Smith.
The City of Cape Town recently delayed Day Zero from April to mid-May, while rainfall is expected to grace the Mother City this evening.
Picture: Pixabay
