We hope we can get back to playing again very soon

And he suspects many other players and coaches feel the same.

Chrystie, helmsman of Southern Knights, the Borders’ representative side in the semi-pro FOSROC Super 6 contest, wanted phase two on the Scottish Government’s road map out of the COVID crisis – expected to be announced today (Thursday) – to allow a little more engagement, if possible.

“We should not complain too much about where we’re living and what we have on our doorsteps – but it would be good to get back a little bit more to normality,” he said.

Although still very supportive of the health reasons behind the cautious approach, the ex-Melrose boss said coaching staff were very keen to get back to working with players in some shape or form.

“Whether that is having the ability to work with individual players, or maybe just conditioning, in small groups, would be good,” he said.

“Social distancing is here to stay for the foreseeable future and, at the club, there are means and ways that we’d like to think we can use to support the players, so they can at least get some physical development.

“The players are probably desperate for that as well – they need routine.

“They’ve had three months of their lives taken away from them because of what’s happened – and it’s the right thing to do, there’s no doubt about that. But, hopefully we can get something in place allowing them still to develop as rugby players, even if it’s just physically, first and foremost.

“Three months of a young player’s life is a long time but, again to reiterate, we understand why everything is in place, while rugby, and rugby clubs, have a priority to make sure we lead by example.”

Chrystie added that players were different – some loved to train and do a lot of it, while others preferred playing, so they trained to play.

“There’s no one cloth that fits, all so it’s about communicating with the players,” he said.

“Retention is a big thing in the game too. It’s important, once lockdown is relaxed a bit, that we are creative in getting boys to stay engaged with clubs, first and foremost, and be supportive. Once we get there, we’ll have a stronger game at the end of it.”

With no official training at present, coaching staff were there as a support mechanism for the players, added Chrystie, and it was up to them to be go about their business within the current rules.

Chrystie added that playing games behind closed doors would be “great”, in his opinion, if it came to that.