CALENDAR SET FOR SHAKE-UP
WALES’S rugby calendar is set for a radical shake-up, should a proposal be given the green light at a meeting of the game’s governing bodies on June 15.
Following recent talks between Six Nations and Sanzaar, a followup meeting is now scheduled in Dublin in two weeks’ time.
The summit will also include World Rugby representatives alongside bosses from the Guinness PRO14, Gallagher Premiership and France’s Top 14.
It is hoped an agreement can be reached on the best way forward for professional rugby to better align the fixture schedules in the northern and southern hemispheres.
French newspaper Midi Olympique has reported that the various structures on the table have been presented following the shutdown of the sport due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Paul Goze, president of Ligue Nationale de Rugby, apparently outlined the two options that will be decided on.
The first option would see the Six Nations and the Rugby Championship played at the same time in March and April 2021, with the summer test window moved to October and running into the traditional November schedule.
That is the one piece of the international schedule that would remain untouched.
According to Goze, this would result in the PRO14, Top 14 and Gallagher Premiership starting their new seasons in January 2021 with an eight-week block.
They would break for the Six Nations and the Rugby Championship, before resuming in late April and running the whole way through to September 2021.
The second option on the table would see the Six Nations and the Rugby Championship continue at different times of the year, with the leagues in Europe starting instead in late March 2021 and continuing through to the end of September.