Pandemic policy depressed rugby player to begin with (8)
I believe the answer is:
lockdown
'pandemic policy' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.
'depressed rugby player to begin with' is the wordplay.
'depressed' becomes 'down' (synonyms).
'rugby player' becomes 'lock' (second row of a scrum).
'to begin with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'down' after 'lock' is 'LOCKDOWN'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lockdown that I've seen before include "Act of confining prisoners to their cells" , "Security measure in prison" .)