Just 174 people allowed at Loftus

Rugby may restart with much excitement across the country this weekend with the Vodacom Super Fan Saturday, but at Loftus Versfeld strict protocols have been put into play to allow the games to be played.

Only 174 people will be allowed at the stadium, including players, and no officials that aren’t working on the day will be there – including the provincial presidents and dignitaries that normally attend the games.

The logistical nightmare to ensure all the Covid regulations have been followed is an interesting one, with Loftus Versfeld stadium manager Hugo Kemp running the show and keeping a tight ship at the ground to ensure nobody steps out of line.

“I’ve always said that nothing will surprise me given that I’ve worked here for 22 years, but this is truly something new. This is really reinventing the wheel, so to speak and thinking out of the box. We have a number of dry runs to get through to see everything is ready,” Kemp told SuperSport.

A number of lessons were learnt from the recently completed PSL football season and these will be implemented in rugby’s return to action.

“We learnt a lot from the PSL and we were involved a lot with the resumption of the league as a stadium. We then had those discussions with SA Rugby. They drew this list of 174 people that are needed to run a professional rugby game. It is actually 100, because the others are the rugby teams.

“It is absolutely essential to have these 100 people at the stadium. It is difficult because as we go on and start implementing the regulations we realise we need more people. Everyone of us doubles up at the moment and does more than one task on the day.”

Kemp explained that the stadium has been divided into three areas to ensure none interact with each other. And players won’t be sharing their post-match beer either.

“The stadium is divided into three areas – the first being the red zone where the players will be – that being the field, tunnel, changerooms. Zone two is the other areas, media, medical personnel etc. These are people that can come into zone one but are not needed to be there the entire time – there are processes to get them to the areas.

“Zone three is the outside. This is the operations control, the security and these sort of things.”

The protocols are government approved and have to be followed to the letter of the law.

“There are strict protocols in place. Once you arrive you are screened immediately, your temperature is measured and your accreditation is checked. One of the biggest challenges we had was to work our routes inside the stadium for the different zones. We have people who have been working at Loftus at games for years and know their routes in. Suddenly these areas can’t mix.

“For instance, we have to get the coaches to the coaching box, and the commentators sit on the left of them, and the operations centre is on the right and all three can’t mix according to the regulations.

“You have to make plans to separate the routes, as well as the Covid regulations - the sanitisers and signage etc.”

On Saturday the stadium will be sanitised before the games can take place, or any team or worker is allowed to enter.

“On Saturday nobody can enter until the stadium is sanitised. That is done four hours before kickoff. Then we can open up. The teams have to enter the stadium by bus, even if they are the home team and have to prepare at a hotel. You go straight into the changeroom, you play the game, you leave straight away. The players will not shower at the ground, but at their hotels. We don’t give the players a beer after the game, we don’t give them food. It is really to get them in and play the game and then get them out again.

“It is a challenge because the teams have to arrange their pre-match meals at other venues. It is also a challenge because we also have four teams, and not two as per a normal game.

“The biggest headache was just to get everyone on the same page. Players and coaches often don’t understand why we have to work this way. These are the regulations, and we have to abide by them. If someone breaks these rules, then we can have problems. We need to keep to these regulations, and it is bad to have to play policeman at times but it is very strict and we have to enforce it that way.”