England could be missing a host of frontline stars when they go in pursuit of the Six Nations title in October with Premiership clubs set to keep hold of their Test players for the domestic final.
World Rugby’s revised autumn Test window is due to begin on 24 October – the same day as the Premiership final – with the final round of the Six Nations, including England’s trip to Italy, set to take place a week later. Eddie Jones would ordinarily have guaranteed access to his players in an official Test window but they will remain with their clubs if they reach the final.
It is one of the few agreements that has been reached over World Rugby’s remodelled autumn calendar with the Premiership on Thursday night voicing their opposition to an expanded window that would run from 24 October to 5 December in the northern hemisphere and from 7 November to 12 December in the south.
It is understood PRL’s main issue is the window stretches into December with next season’s Premiership due to begin on 21 November and the 2020-21 European competitions on 13 December. Sale, for example, would be without the South Africa scrum-half Faf de Klerk for their first European match of the new campaign.
A Premiership statement read: “Premiership Rugby urges World Rugby to restart the global discussions to unify the unions and professional leagues and agree to a temporary plan that works for all. We regret World Rugby’s unilateral decision to impose changes in the international calendar on our clubs when progress is being made with the RFU to reach a compromise for the benefit of all.”
Recasting the autumn fixtures is made all the more complicated because of the need to reschedule four Six Nations matches. In the case of the RFU and the Premiership, it is less so because as part of their agreement Jones has guaranteed access to his players for the outstanding Six Nations match against Italy, due to be played on 31 October. Within that agreement, the union pays for additional access to players for an extra week’s training before international windows.
England are set to convene on 19 October to prepare for their rearranged match against the Barbarians – likely to take place on 25 October. As would have been the case had the Barbarians fixture taken place in June, the Premiership finalists will miss that match, as well as the crucial week’s training preceding it, and with Jones adopting a policy of picking teams from players available for full camps, they are unlikely to be parachuted into his side in Rome.
Exeter and Sale occupy the top two positions in the Premiership and if they were to contest the final it would mean England could be without Manu Tuilagi, Tom Curry, Henry Slade, Jack Nowell and Luke Cowan-Dickie against Italy.
England top the Six Nations table on points difference from France, though Ireland would go into first place with a bonus-point victory over Italy. That match is set to take place on 24 October, a week before the final round when, as well as England’s trip to Italy, France host Ireland and Wales face Scotland. The destination of the title – and the £5m of prize money – could well come down to points difference, demonstrating why Jones would want his strongest XV available.
Once the Six Nations has been completed the picture is less clear. World Rugby is adamant that there is a rest week on 7 November before an eight‑team tournament featuring the Six Nations as well as Fiji and either Japan or Georgia takes place with a final and classification matches taking place on 5 December.
The Premiership’s response follows that of the Top 14 clubs, who are willing to allow France to play five matches rather than the six the national team wants. Unlike the RFU and the Premiership, there has been no agreement over a proposed match on the weekend of 24-25 October. The Top 14 has even threatened legal action and hinted at refusing to release its players.
The responses from PRL and the Top 14 demonstrate there is plenty more negotiating to be done before World Rugby rubber stamps its proposal when its council meets on 30 July.
