Premiership Rugby sets provisional date of 15 August to resume season

Premiership Rugby has announced it hopes to resume the 2019-20 English top-flight rugby union season on Saturday 15 August.

The decision was taken at a board meeting on Thursday evening after this week’s announcement that Premiership Rugby clubs can return to non-contact training under stage one of the process. The structure of how the remaining games in the 2019-20 season are to be played will be released at a later date.

Darren Childs, the 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.

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“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 1, it is important for us to give players, coaches and clubs clarity on when they can look to return.”

Thirteen rounds of Premiership fixtures had been played before the suspension, with Exeter top of the standings, five points ahead of Sale. Each team has nine fixtures to play in the regular season, with the semi-finals and final to follow.

Exeter, Northampton and Saracens also have European Champions Cup commitments, with all three sides through to the quarter-finals and the finale tentatively scheduled for 17 October.

Saracens will be relegated from the Premiership at the end of the season after being handed points deductions for salary-cap breaches. Newcastle will be promoted in their place, after the Championship was called off in March.

Meanwhile, the England scrum-half Ben Spencer has agreed to join Bath for next season, with the lock Will Spencer and the prop Juan Schoeman also signing for the West Country team.

Spencer is leaving relegated Saracens after nine years at the club and has agreed a three-year deal at the Recreation Ground. “I’ll treasure the memories that I’ve made at this club for the rest of my life,” Spencer told Saracens’ official website.

Leicester’s Will Spencer returns for a second spell at the club he left in 2016 and Schoeman arrives from the Sharks in South Africa. Josh Matavesi has also been given a two-year contract, having joined on temporary terms during the current season.