England's Premiership picks restart date
NEWS: Premiership Rugby confirmed it is targeting Saturday, August 15 for the resumption of the Premiership.
The coronavirus outbreak has shunted the game world-wide on to the sidelines, but officials in England are now hoping they will be the first league in Europe to return to action, their mid-August restart date coming seven days before the planned Pro14 return in Ireland with a round of interprovincial derbies.
At a board meeting late on Thursday, the target restart date was agreed following the announcement earlier this week that Premiership clubs can move to Stage One: Elite Sport Return to Training.
Darren Childs, Chief Executive of Premiership Rugby said: “Nothing will happen until it is safe to do so but we will do everything we can to resume the 2019-20 Gallagher Premiership Rugby campaign on Saturday 15 August.
“We won’t take risks with people’s health, and rugby has unique challenges due to levels of proximity and impact, but with a number of clubs moving to Stage One, it is important for us to give players, coaches and clubs clarity on when they can look to return. Bearing that in mind, we look forward to the restart of the season.”
The structure of the 2019-20 season will follow in due course.
