Top 14, Premiership ask World Rugby for input into international calendar

PARIS, AFP: The governing bodies of professional rugby union in France and England have asked to be involved in drawing up the calendar of post-coronavirus international matches.

In a joint letter sent to World Rugby on Monday, France’s LNR and the English Premiership said it was “essential” that any potential change in the dates of international Test windows only came after consultation with, and the agreement of, the professional leagues most affected.

While calling for cooperation and solidarity in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, LNR president Paul Goze and English counterpart Darren Childs insisted that professional leagues and European competition should not be sacrificed to accommodate Tests.

The letter was addressed to World Rugby president Bill Beaumont and chief executive Brett Gosper, and French and English federation heads Bernard Laporte and Bill Sweeney. It was copied to European rugby chiefs and presidents of all professional clubs in England and France.

Goze and Childs, in the letter seen by AFP, said their two bodies had asked World Rugby on several occasions to be part of the calendar-making process, but to no avail.

Newly re-elected as World Rugby president, former England skipper Beaumont faces a headache in trying to please all parties.

The coronavirus pandemic froze the Six Nations with the final round of matches to play, while international tours in the summer look highly compromised given the lockdown on non-essential foreign travel.

Many federations have asked for an extended international window in the autumn, while organisers of European club competitions are still hoping to hold this season’s play-offs in October.