Wales and France's rugby players were told to socially distance during the anthems in Saturday's Six Nations warm-up match despite the fact they were going to be getting very close for the next 80 minutes.
Rugby players have been told to maintain a social distance, even from their own team-mates, when they sing national anthems in empty stadiums this weekend.
The peculiar situation has already played out twice, ahead of Scotland’s victory over Georgia on Friday night and Ireland's win over Italy earlier on Saturday. It has had fans and pundits wondering what on earth is going on.
You can follow the France v Wales game live here.
Wales international Sam Davies commented: “Social distance for the anthems? For goodness sake, come on.”
Former Scotland captain John Barclay pointed out: “Lads, make sure you socially distance before you proceed to essentially exchange bodily fluids into each other’s mouths.”
It’s a fair comment and many wondered what the point was when both sets of players were about to lock horns for 80 minutes in scrums, rucks, mauls and the tackle area.
All players taking part are also involved in a rigorous testing programme.
But, despite all that, the official reason is that players are being encouraged to limit the number of instances where they are in close contact with another person.
Therefore, any unnecessary contact is being avoided, even with their own team-mates.
Though players are sharing a bubble at their team hotel, even in that they are told to be vigilant about unnecessary contact and are not sharing rooms with each other. You can read what restrictions are in place for them here.
Many will be of the opinion that socially distancing for the anthems is a step too far, but that’s the reason for it.
