Pro rugby cannot afford rash decisions in desperation

The first day of my week was spent at five-a-side up until the start of March, our team of 30-somethings trying to show younger rivals in the Elite League that the first yard is in the head.

But musky kit bags are now left in a corner, the ponging goalkeeper gloves and boots at risk of another pandemic to keep the WHO busy.

Goodness knows when Newport County will next be in action at Rodney Parade in League Two, let alone those of us who head to caged 3G pitches after a day at work.

We'll be back, but only when it's safe, and we want it to be the same old five-a-side when we do return.

It's the same in all community sports with clubs desperate for a return because of fears for their very existence if the suspension continues.

It could be a long wait and hopefully that desperation won't lead to bad decisions, which is appropriate in professional rugby as well.

The elite game will not be the same as it was in January when things return to some sort of normality and bigwigs in the northern and southern hemisphere's are already plotting.

The Six Nations and Sanzaar (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina) are exploring anew global international calender.

"It's the old saying: 'Never waste a good crisis'. It's the right time to look at it," said the Irish RFU's Philip Browne.

That was followed by reports of summer rugby for those of us in the north with reports from France that various new structures had been proposed.

Paul Goze, president of Ligue Nationale de Rugby, outlined the option to start new seasons in January, break for the Six Nations and Rugby Championship in March and April then return to play until September.

Another possibility was European leagues going from March until the end of September.

The prospect of playing in July heat in Newport is enough to get forwards sweating but the big units in Biarritz would have to campaign for 10pm kick-offs.

Two years ago I mildly annoyed some at the Welsh Rugby Union for expressing my doubts over a trial that saw chosen clubs' mini sections playing in June, July and August, fearing what that could do to sports such as cricket.

But at least that was just an experiment, something designed to gather information on participation and enjoyment levels.

This crisis has led to a desire to make sweeping changes and firm action, but it will also lead to some opportunism.

In some ways it's harder to hold fire and risk being labelled a Luddite who doesn't want any change.

But we've seen from New Zealand that these strange times have created a situation when the absurd can be given the go-ahead.

Aotearoa Super Rugby kicks off on June 13 and the Kiwis have revealed a number of new innovations.

They've gone a bit American and introduced golden point extra time, seemingly forgetting that there is such a thing as an exciting draw.

But even worse is the decision to allow replacements for players who have been red-carded, like a football friendly when the referee trots over to the manager to instruct him to substitute a fired-up player before he acts.

"While players should, and still will be, punished for foul play, red cards can sometimes have too much of an effect on a match," New Zealand Rugby's (NZR) head of professional rugby Chris Lendrum said.

"There are no winners when a player is red carded, but paying rugby fans, players and coaches want to see a fair contest. Replacing a player after 20 minutes strikes the right balance."

Good to finally know, after 11 years, that it was the right call to leave it at 15 versus 15 when Schalk Burger stuck his finger in Luke Fitzgerald's eye in the opening exchanges of the Lions' vital second Test against the Springboks.

France's Sebastien Vahaamahina could have shattered Dragons flanker Aaron Wainwright's jaw in the World Cup quarter-final but surely it would have been better to have 30 players on the field at the end?

Or just maybe, if you want to stay on the field don't do something outrageous that is clearly deemed a dismissal offence. The possibility of an action having "too much of an effect" is the whole point of a red card.

Thankfully World Rugby's suggested coronavirus-prompted tinkering – including limiting the number of scrums, ending resets, cutting the time to play the ball at rucks, limiting mauls to one movement – got a lukewarm response.

We're all going a little crazy at the moment and rugby supporters have jealously looked on at Australia's NRL (coaches will be watching and learning from some impressive play) and soon it will be Aotearoa Super Rugby on our screens.

The Gallagher Premiership looks to be working towards a return and then we could have some August tussles between the Welsh regions.

Maybe the return of some action will help avoid rash decisions as professional rugby worries about a huge financial hit.

Desperation could lead to bad calls that just lead to another crisis that can't be blamed on a pandemic.