Despite the face that spectators are prohibited from attending club rugby matches, they were present at the White River versus Barberton game at White River Rugby Club, and the Nelspruit versus Pumbas match at Nelspruit Rugby Club on Saturday.

The White River-Barberton game was broadcast live on online platform DigiTV so that fans could watch it at home.

The Ehlanzeni Premier League resumed for the first time since the conclusion of the 2019 season.

The following is stated in the Covid-19 Amateur Rugby Competition & Match Operating Procedure of SA Rugby: The following activities are permitted and may resume, without any spectators, subject to compliance with hygiene and safety measures to prevent and combat the spread of Covid-19, and with social distancing measures pertaining to gatherings, as contemplated in regulation 72(6) of the Regulations: a) Practice and/or training b) Amateur sport matches c) District, provincial and national amateur sport tournaments.

About 160 spectators were at the White River match and 50 at the Nelspruit fixture.

They were outside the playing bubble. These bubbles were strictly enforced at both matches.

The rugby fans occupied their traditional areas around the field. Vehicles were parked, chairs and gazebos set up and alcohol was consumed. Many children were present.

There was no social distancing and few masks were worn.

CEO of the amateur arm of the Mpumalanga Rugby Union, Roelof Kotze, addressed the situation with the Ehlanzeni clubs on Monday.

“People sitting on the open side of the field should be asked to stay in their cars and to have more distance between groups of people. (There were) also no masks and (social) distance. These are my main concerns from what I have seen. Please remember; the better we manage the game days the better our chances of completing our season,” he communicated.

On Tuesday Kotze told Lowvelder, “It is the clubs responsibility (to manage the spectator issue). It is however difficult at grounds like WRRC where the opposite side of the field is not club grounds but public. The union has asked the clubs to clean up on those areas of concern.

“These are all new protocols and we expected that there will be a few areas of difficulty. We are very concerned about the playing enclosure and to make sure that that is intact. Controlling the general public is very difficult as we are working with volunteers from the club. It is also problematic with parents, wives and children coming to games.

“Clubs are asking the public not to attend… I don’t think they are doing to badly. We review the events every week and keep on trying to make it safer to enable the clubs to play as much rugby as possible”.

Pietman Rademeyer, chairman of White River Rugby Club, responded to a media enquiry from Lowvelder.

“The attendance of spectators was discouraged by ourselves on social media and everywhere, therefore we arranged for the live streaming of the games. We do not want to promote that spectators can come and support games, which may cause a problem for club rugby.

“We had people outside the bubble which were trying their utmost best to get the people to keep social distancing or stay in their vehicles, which was not an easy task.

“This was the first match of the season. Both ourselves and Nelspruit Rugby Club were the first clubs to host home games with the new rules and regulations. For a first round, I feel that we did very well in preparations, keeping the bubble area safe and free of spectators/family members.

“Our main concern is our players and the game of Rugby. we did and will keep doing all in our power to promote the live streaming and ask our loyal supporters to rather watch from the safety of their own homes.

“We are already looking at stepping up our game regarding the entry points to the field and increasing the size of the bubble to avoid people getting close to field, which will also discourage them to attend as the view will not be great and they will then see the benefit of the live streaming of the matches.

“All entrances to the rugby club are public entrances, and roads also public roads. These entrances also give access to other sport codes to their areas. People are so hungry for club rugby and just being out there and hearing, smelling and seeing the game, that I think it is going to be a tough one for us, but we will do all in our power to protect the game we all love.

“We cannot afford to let our boys down, they have worked so hard on the return to play and even in the times they were not allowed (to train), they all did their part at home to keep fit. “At the end of the day, we want rugby to continue and not be shut down due to protocols not being met,” said Rademeyer.

Herklaas du Preez, chairman of Nelspruit Rugby Club, said, “You can’t really (manage the spectators). They come in a park on the far side. The people in their vehicles on the far side (of the field) – how can you go chase them away?

“They were not mixing. Each family sat in their vehicles. It’s very difficult for me to chase a person off our premises. He’s not interfering with the game or the bubble”.

The Premier League continues until July 3, after which play-off matches will be held.

With so many club fixtures in the coming months, Lowvelder will keep its readers informed about the spectator issue addressed in this article. .