By MARK CASHMAN

The Shute Shield along with a major slice of community rugby in the Sydney and Illawarra region have been officially cancelled for this season.

The competitions affected include those conducted by the Sydney Junior Rugby Union, NSW Suburban Rugby Union, Sydney Rugby Union (including the Shute Shield) and the women’s Jack Scott Cup.

Regular schoolboy competitions in Term 3 have also been brought to a halt as well as the junior and senior competitions in the Illawarra Zone.

In total this affects many, many thousands of players, coaches and volunteers as well as their families.

NSW Rugby Union and its affiliate unions made the incredibly difficult decision to cancel all winter competitions in the Sydney region in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and deteriorating conditions in the state.

In arriving at this decision, NSWRU worked with affiliates, the NSW Government and fellow winter sports and were left with little option but to cancel the 2021 winter competitions.

The lack of a NSW Government sanctioned roadmap out of lockdown for community sport at the moment was a major factor in coming to the decision.

“This year continues to present us with many challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the safety of our community continues to be of utmost importance,” NSW Rugby CEO Paul Doorn said.

“We have assessed a number of contingency options, and after consultation with Affiliates, our collective position is that the 2021 season cannot proceed under current restrictions.

“In these challenging times, it is imperative that our community work together, to keep not only ourselves, but our peers, teammates, coaches, volunteers and the whole NSW community safe.

“We’re dealing with unprecedented times, but I know that if our rugby community continues to stick together, we will be able to come out stronger on the other side,” he said.

All other regional Zones in NSW are still progressing at this time while some competitions may be in abeyance due to temporary lockdowns.

“We encourage those other competitions to continue to operate under the current Public Health Orders relevant to community sport,” Doorn added.

There will be no premierships or competitions awards at Shute Shield and Premiership Rugby level.

SRU general manager Peter Watkins said unfortunately they were left with no option at this time.

“Everyone at the SRU would like to thank NSW Rugby for their tireless efforts in working with us to keep the season alive,” Watkins said.

“But NSWRU were left with no option and we have jointly made the incredible difficult decision to cancel Premiership Rugby and the Shute Shield.

“I would like to thank our sponsor Charter Hall, Rugby Australia, Stan and our clubs for working with us over the past few months. Further I would like to thank the players and fans of Premiership Rugby.

“I know what the Shute Shield means to the community and the impact of the season cancellation has on our rugby family.”

At Shute Shield level Sydney University remain undefeated, Eastern Suburbs and Gordon jointly lead the Colin Caird Shield, Eastern Suburbs lead the Henderson Shield and Warringah lead the Henderson Cup.

In colts, Gordon lead the William McMahon Shield, Eastern Suburbs lead the Shell Trophy and Gordon the Bill Simpson Shield.

IMAGE: AJF PHOTOGRAPHY