Brumbies prop Scott Sio has thrown his support behind a new scrum clock being introduced for a modified domestic Super Rugby competition to speed up the game.
Sio’s comments came as the Brumbies resumed training yesterday, 11 May, for the first time since the Super Rugby competition was suspended in March.
“If (the scrum clock) is something that’s brought in, it’s something we’ll definitely have to train and take some time to train for at least a month before we go back in there,” Sio said.
“Safety is paramount … whatever can help make the game exciting for the fanbase but safe for the players at the same time, we’re all for it.
“There’s a lot of big injury risk factors at play there but if it’s something that’s trained repetitively over a period of time, we can definitely manage that.”
The ABC reported today that Rugby Australia (RA) hopes the domestic competition will begin in July at the earliest, with the organisation still working through the details of the competition and the competing teams.
With the NRL moving toward a 28 May restart date and the AFL looking to recommence competition in June, Sio said the machinations behind restarting Super Rugby were more complicated.
“We’ll be pretty excited to see what the layout is for us there … our sport was always going to take a tad longer, there are a lot of different factors at play, the biggest one being an international competition,” Sio said.
“AFL and NRL have the luxury of mainly being a domestic competition so it’s about making sure they have to look after what’s happening here in Australia.”
Under the first stage of the Federal Government’s easing of public gathering restrictions, the Brumbies are training in groups of 10 without any contact for the first month.
Sio said his group will be doing a lot of line work spread across field with a single coach monitoring.
“We’re all going to find out what we can and can’t do over the next couple of days and create a routine around it.”
Sio said it was a relief to him and his Brumbies teammates to be back on the training paddock yesterday, with his teammates all saying hello to one another “from about a metre and a half apart”.
“It’s really cool to put all the kit back on … gives you a real sense that you’re starting back up.
“You draw a lot of energy, even though we’re not right next to each other, even just from being in each other’s presence there as well … a lot better vibes than this time a month ago,” he said.
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