Following the total shutdown of rugby events due to the global pandemic, World Rugby proposed a modified schedule on Wednesday. They are currently looking at a designated timeframe between October 24 and December 5 to hold a series of international and club-level games.
The Six Nations is slated to return in October, and there are active talks to organize additional international fixtures in Europe from mid-November to early December. To keep players safe and avoid constant travel, the governing body plans to host everything in a single location—likely New Zealand—over a six-week span. The first fortnight of this window will focus on finishing the delayed Six Nations matches. After a scheduled rest period on November 7, the window will wrap up with a series of matches in the Northern Hemisphere featuring Six Nations teams and other international competitors from November 14 to December 5.
In an official statement, World Rugby explained that rearranging the domestic, European, and international calendars ensures that players from the Southern Hemisphere can return to their professional clubs. This allows them to complete postponed club matches that would have otherwise clashed with international duties in August and September. The organization noted that a finalized, detailed schedule will be published as soon as the proposal is officially approved.
There is speculation that Fiji, Japan, and Georgia could be the nations joining the traditional Six Nations sides—England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales—to create an eight-nation tournament ending on December 5. Meanwhile, Wales will not return to the Principality Stadium in 2020, as the venue has been converted into the Dragon’s Heart Hospital. The stadium will continue to serve as a medical facility as a precaution against a potential second wave of COVID-19 infections in the country.