The wait goes on for Raiders
JORDAN REYNOLDS heard yesterday’s RFU announcement of more Covid-19 inspired cost-cutting and no rugby before January at the earliest and said they can’t reduce funding any more – ‘next it will be them giving money back to the RFU’.
It was, of course, a very tongue-in-cheek comment by Raiders’ head coach, whose phlegmatic response amplified his sense of realism and reading of a situation which hardly came as a surprise.
‘It’s not ideal for us,’ admitted Reynolds.
‘We would have loved to start in November but in the last three weeks we’ve seen a significant change in England.
‘The more important side of this is the jobs that are going at the RFU.’
Yesterday, the RFU announced that no organised RFU or non-RFU Leagues including merit tables, adult or age grade competitions will be played before January 2021 at the earliest.
In the meantime, Raiders will play their in-house three-match ‘Test’ series which starts today, but beyond that Reynolds is unsure how he can keep a big squad ticking over with no regular action.
‘What we do beyond November is something we will discuss with the players,’ he said.
‘The boys have been really good about this but they are all really itching to play.
‘But it’s looking a bit bleak at the moment.’
