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All eyes on The Stoop as Premiership will restart with Harlequins facing Sale next month
By Online Editors
As revealed by RugbyPass on Thursday, the suspended Gallagher Premiership season will swing back into action on August 14 with Harlequins hosting Sale Sharks into a live TV showdown in London. The match will bridge a 159-day gap in between matches in the league as the last game played before the coronavirus stoppage was the meeting of Bristol and Harlequins at Ashton Gate on March 8.
Before Gallagher Premiership Rugby was suspended, Sale were one of the form teams, only losing one out of their last six matches, while Harlequins have lost just once to the Sharks at the Twickenham Stoop in Premiership Rugby since 2008.
Following the opener in west London, there will be four matches on Saturday, August 15 - at Bath, Worcester Warriors, Bristol Bears and leaders Exeter Chiefs - before the weekend ends at Franklin’s Gardens where Northampton Saints face Wasps.
Announcing the dates and times for the first four rounds of Gallagher Premiership matches, which takes us to the end of August, tournament CEO Darren Childs said: “With just over a month to go, we are delighted to be on track to bring rugby back to fans and see our players out in the competition.
"The good news I can bring is that the Gallagher Premiership will be back a little earlier than we previously announced with the first game scheduled on August 14. I must thank all of our players, clubs, partners, the RFU and RPA who have all supported us on this journey, and we are now cautiously optimistic for a safe return to the season."
Harlequins boss Paul Gustard said: “We are delighted to be the first club back hosting a fixture as the Gallagher Premiership recommences. It has, of course, been an unprecedented time – the global impact of Covid-19 has been seismic.
“We are all excited to have the opportunity to represent the club and look to push on in the second half of the season. It is brilliant that we get to run out at The Stoop once more. We are hugely thankful for the goodwill of our owners, the support of the board and the continued generosity of our amazing supporters.
“We also recognise and are grateful for all the hard work undergone by the game’s key stakeholders. They have played significant roles in getting us back out on the field from - the lengthy work of Premiership Rugby, the RFU, BT and Gallagher to namecheck just a few.”
Sale boss Steve Diamond added: “It’s fantastic that we have the opportunity to return to play after such a long lay-off. Everyone across the league is chomping at the bit to get going again.
"It’s been a turbulent period for everyone but as a club, we feel we have come out of the other end of this period stronger than ever. We have a top bunch of players here and all the lads have put their hands up and worked hard for the club during our return to play preparations. We are ready and raring to go.”
Premiership Rugby also confirmed that the Premiership final 2020 will take place on Saturday, October 24.
ROUND 14
Friday, August 14: Harlequins v Sale
Saturday, August 15: Exeter v Leicester, Bath v London Irish, Worcester v Gloucester, Bristol v Saracens
Sunday, August 16: Northampton v Wasps
ROUND 15
Friday, August 21: Sale v Exeter, Gloucester v Bristol, Wasps v Worcester
Saturday, August 22: Saracens v Harlequins, London Irish v Northampton, Leicester v Bath
ROUND 16
Tuesday, August 25: Wasps v Sale, Bristol v Exeter
Wednesday, August 26: Saracens v Gloucester, Worcester v Harlequins, Northampton v Bath, Leicester v London Irish
ROUND 17
Saturday, August 29: Sale v Bristol
Sunday, August 30: Harlequins v Northampton, Exeter v Worcester, London Irish v Saracens, Gloucester v Leicester, Bath v Wasps
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Latest Comments
I guess the other option would be to start ALB, he's looked good in the 12 so far when he starts and sets up those outside him. But that would mean putting the vice captain on the bench, which is unlikely. Another option would be to drop Reiko to the bench and play Proctor, though he's gone home so that's not going to happen either.
Both of those players just offer more of the soft distribution skills good centres learn from playing their careers there. Unfortunately that's what's lacking with the current combo.
Go to commentsWhatever let's see if this load of waffle is still valid in 2 years time. ABs will rise we have a lot of new talent coming through. The NPC was the highest standard for years. The game is changing to suit the fast pace we like to play. We get to play the Springboks more, including the franchises, which will make us better! Overall I am optimistic. I will add having watched the England game multiple times we made most of the play. England are an awesome physical team, but you can expect the All Blacks to get better and better at executing the chances. It could easily have been 5 tries to one instead of 3 to 1.
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