2021 GRR cancelled

Virus calls time on Global Rapid Rugby
October 7 2020 - 9:13PM

Andrew Forrest has seen coronavirus claim the 2021 edition of his Global Rapid Rugby competition.

The 2021 season for the franchise-based Global Rapid Rugby (GRR) competition has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The competition, backed by Australian billionaire Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest, had suspended its inaugural season after one round due to the coronavirus outbreak, before cancelling it entirely in April.

Robbie McRobbie, chief executive of the Hong Kong Rugby Union, which had helped organise the competition, said the uncertainty over the rugby calendar and the future of the participating teams meant they had no option but to call it off.

"We've been in ongoing contact with the GRR team and over the weekend they came to the conclusion that putting on a competition in 2021 was not going to be viable," he was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post.

GRR was set up by Forrest after the Perth-based Western Force were removed from Super Rugby following the 2017 season.

Its first two competitions, in 2018 and 2019, were classed as exhibition campaigns as organisers tested the concept.

"It's disappointing from our point of view because we really believed that Andrew had come up with a really good product in terms of the law variations, the shape of the game, the exciting initiatives, and the high-level teams involved," McRobbie said.

Australian Associated Press

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/sto...ugby/?cs=14238

It is not happening now but it is still useful not to shutter the option entirely yet. Who knows what the landcsape will look like post-covid?

Given there is persistent talk of ongoing involvement with the BoP/China team in the NZ comp, I am a little surprised the possibility of involving the Fijian and Samoan GRR teams in the Australian comp hasn't been raised. That would keep four of the GRR sides alive against whatever happens in 2022, just unfortunate there probably isn't much could be done for the HK team. Not unless they could perhaps be done a favour by the Japanese...