Premiership Rugby have no plans to release players or move their showpiece final to accommodate a potential Lions Test at Twickenham in June, 2021.
The Lions are due to head to South Africa a month later as part of a tour that will have a reduced number of games. They are scheduled to play eight matches over a five-week period, as opposed to the 10-game, six-week tour of New Zealand in 2017.
However, as part of their preparations, a Test against another international side at Twickenham has been mooted. The Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday morning that the match could be worth in the region of £10million.
However, Premiership Rugby have their end-of-season final scheduled for June 26. It is understood they have no plans to move that date, which has been set since last October.
The clubs would also object to any of their players missing the final by being released to play for the Lions.
Under an agreement struck by World Rugby in San Francisco in 2017, the summer window for international Test matches was shortened by a month, from June to July.
Premiership Rugby are sticking to that agreement and, consequently, have no plans to release players, even though they would be likely to receive some of the cash windfall from a potential Lions Test at the home of English rugby.
They would have concerns about player welfare, as organisations such as the Rugby Players Association have, in the past, raised the issue of the number of high-profile games in a calendar year.
English rugby’s governing body, the RFU, refused to comment about the potential Test on Thursday morning, while a spokesperson for the touring side would not even corroborate whether preliminary talks had taken place.
