Queensland Premier Rugby to be played on a computer game in an Australian first since coronavirus outbreak
The coronavirus outbreak has halted most sports around the country but canny Queensland rugby officials have come up with a novel way to play the opening round of their Premier Rugby competition.
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Canny Queensland rugby officials have organised the opening round of their Premier Rugby competition to be played via a computer game on Saturday.
In an Australian first since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the Queensland Premier Rugby’s Hospital Challenge Cup has invented a game that will be played by members of teams with full live commentary to be live streamed.
The Queensland version of Sydney’s Shute Shield has been postponed due to the virus, with all community and club rugby on hiatus until the spread is stopped.
Rugby Australia announced this week that the earliest the matches could be staged is May 2, but that again is dependent on the situation at that time.
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So QRU official Brendan Hertel, and Rob Matthews from DoubleTake Sports, who broadcast the competition, devised the idea of playing the competition in virtual reality.
Matthews’ technical boffins at DoubleTake Sports have taken the PlayStation game Rugby Nations 3 and inserted all nine QPR teams and their respective club colours into the program.
They have even attempted to get the correct hair colour or headgear for individual players.
The virtual round one will kick off at 3.20pm on Saturday with back-to-back games broadcast on redsrugby.com.au and rugby.com.au and the matches will be as they were scheduled for on the field: UQ vs GPS; Bond University vs Souths; Norths vs Easts; and Wests vs Sunnybank.
All games will last 20 minutes and Jaybor Staunton, the nephew of former Wallaby and Fox Sports commentator Greg Martin, will call the games as he does during the regular season.
Originally published as Queensland Premier Rugby to be played on a computer game in an Australian first since coronavirus outbreak