Premiership Rugby concede midweek matches are not ideal but backed by all parties

The Gallagher Premiership will feature midweek matches for the first time in the tournament's history when the league returns on August 14, a move that Premiership Rugby admits is necessary in order to complete the season but not ideal.

Wasps are scheduled to play Sale Sharks before Bristol Bears take on Exeter Chiefs on Tuesday, August 25, before four matches involving the remaining sides on Wednesday, August 26.

There will be an "absolute minimum" four-day turnaround between matches, Premiership Rugby announced on Friday, following talks between the league, Rugby Football Union and Rugby Players Association.

"The clubs have been really in favour of this, because clearly competition integrity is important for the outcome of any season," said Premiership Rugby director Phil Winstanley. "Clearly, we would rather have not played (midweek) games initially, but working with Conor [O’Shea, RFU director of performance rugby] and Damian [Hopley, RPA chairman] on midweek games, we were very proactive in that.

"We need to look at how that loading works and we have engaged with the directors of rugby on how we might manage that, whether that’s limiting game time and turnaround time. It’s a proactive discussion but we recognise that we need to come up a solution that involves the RPA and RFU."

Recognising that Premiership Rugby had been critical in the past of the British and Irish Lions adopting short turnarounds between matches, Winstanley stressed the need for players' recovery to be managed as well as possible.

"It’s really important that we maintain that position. We don’t want to have back-to-back games, which is why it’s really important that we need to manage it properly. In the past week we have been quite critical of the Lions, not wanting [them] to play four-day turnarounds, and the same should apply to us. We have sat down with Damian and Conor and want to manage that correctly."

Premiership Rugby announced 10 positive cases of Covid-19 this week out of 804 tests, with six players and four non-players testing positive, although those figures have not been cause for concern.

"It’s in line with expectations, in terms of the first round of testing," said Premiership Rugby chief executive Darren Childs. "We have had to put in one of the most rigorous testing regimes in elite sport, which has taken us some time.

Winstanley added: "At the moment the community prevalence that we see in the press every day is based on people who are symptomatic. What we don’t know is the level of people who are asymptomatic in the community. It’s integral that we completely assess what is coming into our training environment and manage that appropriately. We have identified those [factors] and as we step through the next few weeks and get towards game day, we should understand our playing community better, which then de-risks the game factors when we get to playing."

The eight-week schedule and upcoming European and Test matches leaves little room for manoeuvre should a spike in cases emerge in an area near one of the Premiership's 12 clubs, with the league currently exploring options and working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

"As part of the stage three guide, where we return to play, we are required under the DCMS guidance to produce contingency plans, and clearly we are working on that," added Winstanley.

"There is no room in the calendar to reschedule, so we need to manage how we deal with those [games in question]. There are options available to us. If it is a local lockdown, we can look at alternative venues. But the guidance to this point in time, taking the situation in Leicester, Public Health England were quite happy for sport to continue in those areas. It’s a question of being flexible and able to adapt."

Where London Irish will play their first home Premiership match of the renewed season also remains to be seen, with the club having left the Madejski after 20 years in Berkshire ahead of their move to Brentford.

"It’s a pretty unusual time," admitted Premiership Rugby's chief financial officer Jan Gooze-Zijl. "London Irish do have to leave the Madejski. There are a couple of options available to them and we hope to confirm that in the next few days."

Harlequins Head of Rugby Paul Gustard said: “We are delighted to be the first club back hosting a fixture as the Gallagher Premiership recommences. It has, of course, been an unprecedented time – the global impact of COVID-19 has been seismic.

“We are all excited to have the opportunity to represent the Club and look to push on in the second half of the season. It is brilliant that we get to run out at The Stoop once more. We are hugely thankful for the goodwill of our owners, the support of the board and the continued generosity of our amazing supporters.

Steve Diamond, Director of Rugby, Sale Sharks added: “It’s fantastic that we have the opportunity to return to play after such a long lay-off, I think everyone across the league is chomping at the bit to get going again. It’s been a turbulent period for everyone, but as a club we feel we have come out of the other end of this period stronger than ever.

“We have a top bunch of players here and all the lads have put their hands up and worked hard for the club during our return to play preparations, we are ready and raring to go so I think it will be a great occasion at The Stoop on Friday 14 August.”