In just under three weeks, after-school RIPPA and RIP Rugby modules in eight venues right across the Bay of Plenty region will kick or tap off.

The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union is implementing several contingencies to ensure the events go on amid the current Covid-19 outbreak in New Zealand, including children over 12 being required to be vaccinated in order to play.

'With the Covid-19 Protection Framework red settings in place and with a lot of uncertainty existing in the community, it's great to be able to announce that we've got a rock-solid plan in place to deliver after-school RIPPA and RIP Rugby modules for our Tamariki and Rangatahi both safely and within all of the Government's restrictions,” says BOP Community Rugby Manager Pat Rae.

'It's a critical part of our overall community rugby strategy to provide our communities with opportunities to gather and connect, using rugby or one of its modified formats to do so.

'We've seen how important it is when it's taken away from us. The benefits are huge to the physical fitness and mental wellness of our people.”

In order to satisfy all of the government's restrictions, the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union will be running all of its modules across the region as 'My Vaccine Pass” gatherings.

This means that all people mandated to be vaccinated - 12 years 3 months and over - will have to possess a My Vaccine Pass to attend the modules and the children 12 and over will need to possess a MVP to play.

Children aged 5-11 do NOT have to be vaccinated to play, but it is strongly recommended.

Other controls include:

• The fields will be broken down into separate zones capable of containing a maximum of 100 people, including the 4 teams playing inside that zone (including any unvaccinated players) and their vaccinated supporters.

• There will be separate entry and exit points from the carparks to the zones, and teams and their supporters will only be permitted inside their zones at given times, with a buffer time slot between change over to keep the rounds of 100, separated from each other.

• There will be a large amount of signage, along with colour coded maps and plenty of written communication to schools and on all of the union's social media channels detailing the plans to keep everyone safe and compliant.

• MVP's will be checked along with the usual provision of QR codes, hand sanitizer and approved face coverings to be worn when people transition to and from the zones.

The BOP Rugby Union are also excited to announce they will be running an after-school module on Wednesday nights at Westbrook fields starting Wednesday, March 16 for five weeks in Rotorua for Central Bay children for the very first time.

'While we've delivered one-off days and had a couple of attempts to get the CBOP RIPPA module off the ground, we're confident that this time we'll be successful in attracting enough teams from our local primary and intermediate schools to give it a go,” says Rae.

For more information on after school RIPPA and RIP Rugby, click here.