The start of next season’s Guinness PRO14 campaign is to be put back until the end of September, a week after the World Cup gets underway.
And the launch of the new 12-team Welsh Premiership could also be delayed until October, with Regional A games taking centre stage in September.
The plan is the PRO14 will kick off on the weekend of September 27-29, which is when Wales have their huge World Cup pool match against Australia in Tokyo.
The first three rounds of league matches will coincide with the group stage of the global jamboree out in Japan, with the four existing regions continuing to represent Wales in the five country competition.
There will then be a break for the weekend of the World Cup quarter-finals ahead of two rounds of games on the weekends of the semi-finals and final (Oct 25 & Nov 2), with a further round to follow on November 8-9.
The focus then switches to Europe, with the opening two rounds of the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup taking place on the weekends of November 16 and 23.
It’s back to the PRO14 for a week before rounds three and four of Europe in December and you are then into the Christmas derbies, with the Cardiff Blues, Dragons, Scarlets and Ospreys locking horns over the festive period.
The group stage of Europe concludes with the final two rounds of pool matches in mid-January, with the league then resuming as we head towards the Six Nations.
Official confirmation of the 2019-20 PRO14 fixture schedule is expected in the coming weeks, amid speculation that South Africa could host the final.
It’s already been announced that the Gallagher Premiership season in England won’t begin until the weekend of the World Cup quarter-final on October 20.
The English clubs will take part in a domestic cup competition prior to the World Cup, with the Premiership final being put back to June 20, 2020.
The Top 14 in France will get under way in late August with four rounds of games ahead of the World Cup and another four while the competition is ongoing in Japan.
Domestically in Wales, the start of the new-look 12-club Premiership could be put back until October.
The focus in September is set to be the Celtic Cup, which will see Welsh Regional A teams going up against Irish Provincial A teams.
At the end of that cross-border tournament, young players will either stay with the senior regional squads or go to play Premiership rugby.
There could be some WRU Cup ties for the Premiership clubs in September, while there are discussions ongoing about them being involved in a late season competition with the new Scottish Super Six sides.
The schedule for next term is expected to be finalised at a meeting in April.
The Premiership is being cut from 16 teams to 12 at the end of this season as part of a streamlining exercise, with the three-year ring-fencing coming to an end.
The bottom four clubs will be relegated, with the Championship winners facing the 12th-placed team in a play-off for a spot in the semi-pro top flight.
REGIONAL RUGBY
Guinness PRO14 probable schedule
Round 1: September 27-28
Round 2: October 4-5
Round 3: October 11-12
Round 4: October 25-26
Round 5: November 1-2
Round 6: November 8-9
Round 7: November 29-30
Christmas period: Derbies
European weekends
Round 1: November 15-17
Round 2: November 22-24
Round 3: December 6-8
Round 4: December 13-15
Round 5: January 10-12
Round 6: January 17-19
Quarter-finals: April 3-5
Semi-finals: May 1-3
Challenge Cup final: Friday, May 22
Heineken Champions Cup final: Saturday, May 23
