DUE to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, Rugby Americas North (RAN) announced that its 2020 RAN Men’s 15-a-side competition, along with the Women’s 10s and Men’s Under-19 tournament, which was set to take place July 8-12 in Nassau, Bahamas, have been cancelled.

“Rugby Americas North’s Exco has followed World Rugby and the global game of rugby by putting athlete, staff and public welfare first and foremost, by making the decision to cancel our upcoming competitions,” said RAN president Miguel Carner.

“While this is obviously difficult news for our member unions and region, we believe it’s in everyone’s best interest,” added Carner.

The Senior Men’s 15-a-side tournament was set to get underway in April and doubled as the first regional qualification round for Rugby World Cup 2023. These matches have now been tentatively postponed to 2021, with further details to be confirmed.

Currently, the 2020 RAN Sevens competition is still scheduled to take place in November 2020 and will be assessed over the course of the coming months as further developments take place. A venue has not yet been finalised.

“As the situation develops over the coming weeks, RAN will be working with Rugby Americas, World Rugby and our Member Unions to monitor the situation and make decisions of when we can proceed with and reschedule events in a safe and efficacious manner,” said Niall Brooks, RAN General Manager.

Last week, Rugby Americas announced the cancellation of the upcoming 2020 Under-20 Americas Rugby Championship (ARC) in Montevideo, Uruguay, which included Canada and the USA. Further decisions regarding the Senior and U-20 editions of the Americas Rugby Challenge (ARCh) and ARC will be announced in due course as the ongoing environment is continuously being evaluated.

“At this time, RAN would like to reinforce the importance of everyone focussing on social-distancing and all that can be done within North America and the Caribbean to collectively address this constantly-evolving pandemic,” added Brooks.