Gallagher Premiership opening fixtures announced
Newly-promoted Bristol Bears have been handed the honour of opening the Gallagher Premiership Rugby season on 31 August.
The Bears – who are back in the top flight after a one-year absence – will face local rivals Bath Rugby at Ashton Gate in the only match on the Friday night.
Bristol Bears head coach Pat Lam said: “It’s great for us to be in Gallagher Premiership Rugby and everybody is relishing the opportunity to test themselves in a fantastic competition.
“Our vision is to inspire our community through rugby success and we are working tirelessly to achieve this through the way we represent ourselves on and off the field.
“To open the season against Bath – and to come up against Todd [Blackadder], a man I know and respect a huge amount – is really exciting and a major boost for our supporters too. We have no doubt they will fill Ashton Gate and create an incredible atmosphere.”
The fixtures have been compiled once again with Atos, the company that works with both the Premier League and English Football League.
Saturday sees Worcester host Wasps, Harlequins will play Sale, Gloucester Rugby v Northampton Saints and Exeter Chiefs hosting Leicester Tigers.
Champions Saracens have to wait until the final day of the weekend to kick off the defence of their title against beaten semi-finalists Newcastle Falcons.
“We are all excited about the upcoming season and the Gallagher Premiership Rugby fixtures coming out certainly adds to the anticipation,” said Mark McCall, Saracens Director of Rugby.
“Everyone understands the amount of work which needs to be put in over the coming months to ensure we are ready for the challenge ahead.”
The closure of Twickenham Stadium in September – for redevelopment work – means there will be no London Double Header this year.
However, Premiership Rugby will break new ground on 6 October when the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Harlequins and Saracens (7.30pm kick off) will be televised live on network TV in the US on NBC (rather than NBC Sports) for the first time.
The fixtures for the Premiership Rugby Cup will be announced at noon on Friday 13 July.
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You forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time.
Go to commentsDanny don't care. He pretends to care but he don't. He says all this stuff to justify his reasoning but no one can claim that legitimately. He knew exactly what he was doing and wondered if his old team mate would overlook it, which he did. Ref has got to be sidelined or properly trained. It's one thing for refs to move up the ranks but if it was me I would require refs to either have played in different clubs or not at all having the temptation to bias in high stakes games like this. This has got to be stamped out. But then again World Rugby is so destroying the game of rugby in an attempt to be more “safe” and “concussion free”. What they are doing is making it more infuriating for the fans and more difficult for the refs to officiate evenly and consistently. It's fast become Australian Rules football. If guys don't want concussions, they should have played chess. Stop complaining you oldies of the game. When they played the game was vastly heavier hitting than it is now but of course they can't see that.
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