Rugby's traditional schedule could see a radical shakeup, should a new proposal be accepted at a meeting of rugby's leading governing bodies on the 15th June 2020.
Following recent talks between Six Nations and Sanzaar a follow-up meeting is now scheduled in Dublin which will also include all the major rugby competitions in the world including the Premiership, Top 14 and Pro14 in the hope that an agreement can be reached on the best way forward for professional rugby to better align the disparate fixture schedules north and south of the equator.
Apparently, two options will be on the table from 2021 onwards while the remainder of 2020 would be left blank from new club rugby seasons.
The first option would see the Six Nations and the SANZAAR's Rugby Championship played at the same time in March and April 2021, with the summer test window moved to October and running into the traditional November schedule, the one piece of the international schedule that would remain untouched.
According to Goze, president of Ligue Nationale de Rugby, this would result in the Top 14 and the other European leagues starting their new seasons in January 2021 with an eight-week block. They would then break for the Six Nations and the Rugby Championship, before resuming in late April and running the whole way through to September 2021.
Apparently, the second option on the table would see the Six Nations and the Rugby Championship continue at their current different times of the year, with the leagues in Europe starting instead in late March 2021 and continuing through to the end of September.