{"id":15190,"date":"2020-06-19T13:46:54","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T17:46:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=15190"},"modified":"2020-06-20T08:51:02","modified_gmt":"2020-06-20T12:51:02","slug":"the-behind-the-scenes-operations-of-irish-rugbys-return-to-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=15190","title":{"rendered":"The Behind-The-Scenes Operations Of Irish Rugby\u2019s Return To Training"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ireland Rugby Squad Training, IRFU High Performance Centre, Sport Ireland Campus, Blanchardstown, Dublin 30\/1\/2020
Luke McGrath
(\u00a9INPHO\/Brian Reilly-Troy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>Temperature check scanning technology, remodeled gym layouts and one-way flow systems \u2014 the IRFU\u2019s five designated High Performance Centers will have a very different look and feel to them when the senior provincial squads return to group training for the first time since March this coming Monday.<\/p>\n

The prospect of the Leinster and Munster players back in their provincial kits and returning to work from next week, followed by the Ulster and Connacht squads from 29th June, is a hugely significant and encouraging step forward on the IRFU\u2019s Return To Rugby Roadmap, and will certainly generate excitement amongst supporters, but this has not been achieved overnight.<\/p>\n

Months and weeks of meticulous planning has allowed the IRFU to proceed to the next stage of the phased Return To Rugby Roadmap, as a number of departments \u2013 including Medical, Operations and Athletic Performance \u2013 have collaborated and combined to put in place a series of stringent protocols to ensure the players and staff are returning to safely controlled environments.<\/p>\n

As outlined by the IRFU\u2019s Medical Director, Dr Rod McLoughlin, the IRFU has worked assiduously during this period with Sport Ireland, the Department of Sport and other sporting bodies to fully understand the measures and practices required for the resumption of group training, initially in small pods of seven players and a coach.<\/p>\n

Just as COVID-19 has irrevocably changed how people go about our day-to-day lives, the training routines and structures of the players will be modified to adhere to the protocols and the IRFU\u2019s Operations team has been busily readying and preparing the five High Performance facilities across the four provinces for Monday\u2019s re-opening.<\/p>\n

From even before they arrive at the training facility, players and support staff will begin a thorough daily process involving a medical questionnaire before completing a temperature check upon arrival, all of which has been methodically planned and mapped out by the IRFU Operations team, led by Head of Operations, Ger Carmody.<\/p>\n

Having progressed through the drafting and preparation period in conjunction with Sport Ireland and the Department of Sport, the focus has now switched to the implementation of the medical plans and procedures, with this being a particularly strenuous operational period requiring of the expertise and experience of a number of departments across the IRFU.<\/p>\n

Central to the installation of the supporting infrastructure for a safe return to training has been the IRFU High Performance Center Facilities and Operations Manager, Gillian McDarby, who has also taken on the role of COVID-19 Manager for the IRFU High Performance Center, where the Ireland Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Sevens squads are due to return from Monday, 6th July.<\/p>\n

McDarby is part of a working group established to align all the COVID-19 Managers from each of the five High Performance facilities \u2013 the IRFU HPC on the Sport Ireland Campus, Connacht\u2019s HPC at the Sportsgrounds, Leinster\u2019s HPC at UCD, Munster\u2019s HPC at University of Limerick and Ulster\u2019s HPC at Kingspan Stadium \u2013 and provide a network for the relevant personnel in each of the provinces to share information and knowledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really important as we near the return of the players to each of the High Performance Centers that we\u2019re all aligned and together in what we\u2019re doing,\u201d McDarby tells IrishRugby.ie<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely essential we\u2019re doing the right thing but we\u2019re also all doing the same thing and that\u2019s where the network has been really useful during this planning and preparation phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I\u2019ve been providing guidance to the provinces on how to re-open their High Performance Center, I\u2019ve been able to bounce things off Rod, Ger and Scott [Walker, the IRFU\u2019s Director of Strategy and Technology] and it really has been a big team effort. We\u2019re not going to get things 100% perfect because it\u2019s an ever-evolving situation but we need to be certain we\u2019ve covered all the bases so that when the players and staff do come back in, they know they\u2019re in a safe environment to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

While McDarby has been on the ground overseeing the installation of signage, hand-hygiene stations and check in and check out areas at the IRFU High Performance Center, the players and support staff from Leinster and Munster have started the medical pre-screening and education process in advance of their return to training.<\/p>\n

Having identified the education piece as a key phase, Carmody, Walker and the IRFU\u2019s Training and Education Manager, Colin Moran, have rolled out a curriculum for the players to complete through an online portal that will help them understand the symptoms of COVID-19, the risks of transmission and the measures in place at their particular training facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve used a platform called GAINLINE that allows us to roll out the online modules to the players and they can go on their phone or laptop and complete the education,\u201d Carmody explains. \u201cWe\u2019ll then get a notification from each player when that\u2019s done and that process started on Wednesday for the Leinster and Munster squads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe players will then sit in on a webinar with the team doctors and Rod and this will act as the second phase in the education process before they can proceed to the training stage from Monday. There will then also be daily briefings from the coach who trains them because this is an ever-changing scenario so there is a need there to have an ongoing education structure at all of our High Performance Centers as we monitor the situation closely.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A view of the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena (\u00a9INPHO\/Bryan Keane)<\/figcaption><\/figure>The COVID-19 Managers will monitor the Government and Medical guidelines on a daily basis and, among various roles and responsibilities, they will ultimately oversee the implementation of the COVID-19 Management Plan for all players and staff members in their facility.<\/p>\n

At the IRFU High Performance Center on the Sport Ireland Campus, players and staff will be greeted by a temperature check screening system upon arrival at check-in, which will not only record their body temperature to ensure it is below 37.5\u00b0C but also electronically log the date and time of their entry and departure for contact tracing purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve tried to make every step as simple as possible,\u201d McDarby continues. \u201cWe don\u2019t want anything to become a cumbersome process that people will actually start to ignore as time goes on. What has been really beneficial for us is to closely watch how other facilities in Ireland and across the world have implemented their processes and we\u2019ve been able to take learnings from New Zealand, for example.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey used a simple QR code scan for entry to their High Performance facilities and while we looked at using that here, it wouldn\u2019t have been enough for us at the stage we\u2019re at in Ireland because we need to make sure we can check the temperatures of players and staff each day. So we touched base with the Institute of Sport beside us here on the Sport Ireland Campus and they shared the knowledge and information they had on the temperature checking systems they were using and that informed us of what we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

While each High Performance Center will be slightly different in terms of layout and exact systems, both Carmody and McDarby stress the importance of a unified approach across all four provinces to minimize the health risk to players and support staff alike.<\/p>\n

Once an individual has completed their daily questionnaire at home, traveled to the High Performance Center alone, signed in and completed their temperature check on arrival, they will then proceed to the gym or training pitch via an unidirectional flow system designed to avoid any contact with players or staff outside of their training pod. All of this will be clearly sign-posted and the facility monitored by the COVID-19 Manager to ensure there is full compliance at all times.<\/p>\n

In addition to separate gym regions, dedicated walking zones and a strict equipment cleaning policy, there will be no shower or changing facilities available to players or staff, while common areas, meeting spaces and video analysis rooms will be off limits for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been an extremely busy time for everyone readying the facilities again but we\u2019re all doing this for one reason and that\u2019s to get rugby back,\u201d McDarby adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cA huge amount of hours and thought has gone into putting these plans in place and we now need the players and staff to be accountable for their actions and understand that to get back to where we want to be, these protocols must be followed and I\u2019ve no doubt everyone will come together and do everything they can to make this work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carmody shares the same optimism as months of behind-the-scenes planning comes to fruition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all realize that life has changed during this period so adapting to the new structures at our training and work facilities is something we all have to do,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s really important everybody embraces the changes and works together to ensure we make our environments as safe as possible and ultimately keep making progress on the Return To Rugby journey. It will be a challenge but the key thing all along has been to work together and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll continue to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

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