The World Rugby Executive Committee this week recommended a revised temporary 2020 international calendar to accommodate rescheduled fixtures postponed by the global COVID-19 pandemic as well as a general lack of international rugby.
The new temporary international window should occur between 24 October and 5 December, along with a temporary change to the Regulation 9 windows governing player release, to be approved at a virtual meeting of the World Rugby Council on 30 July. Subject to approval, the full schedule of matches will be announced by the respective union and international competition owners in due course.
In the northern hemisphere, this window will accommodate the postponed men’s and women’s Six Nations matches at the end of October, a rest weekend on 7 November followed by a programme of international matches involving the Six Nations and invited teams (rumoured to be Japan and Fiji) hosted in Europe from 14 November through to 5 December.
The rescheduling of the domestic, European and international calendars will accommodate the ability for the professional clubs to have access to their star southern hemisphere international players for the completion of the postponed and rescheduled 2019/20 seasons at a time in which they would have ordinarily been on Rugby Championship international duty in August and September.
The current Regulation 9 windows will return to normal after 13 December.
UPDATE (30/7): The temporary windows approved by the World Rugby Council for player release are:
- Temporary global player release window for 2020: 24 October – first weekend of December (Six Nations/Autumn Tests)
- Temporary Rugby Championship window for 2020: 7 November – second weekend of December
The temporary global window will accommodate the completion of the 2020 men’s and women’s Six Nations Championships on 24 and 31 October, a rest weekend on 7 November and four consecutive rounds of international matches.
With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to impact transcontinental travel and entry requirements, on an exceptional basis The Rugby Championship 2020 will take place over a reduced six-week period between 7 November and the second week in December with SANZAAR having asked New Zealand to host. Special measures will need to be implemented to deal with any government-required isolation period prior to the start of the competition.