Premiership clubs would veto pre-Lions tour Test at Twickenham in 2021

England HQ: A potential pre-Lions Tour test has been mooted for Twickenham in 2021
Getty Images

Premiership Rugby have no plans to release players or move their showpiece final to accommodate a potential Lions Test at Twickenham in June, 2021.

The Lions are due to head to South Africa a month later as part of a tour that will have a reduced number of games. They are scheduled to play eight matches over a five-week period, as opposed to the 10-game, six-week tour of New Zealand in 2017.

However, as part of their preparations, a Test against another international side at Twickenham has been mooted. The Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday morning that the match could be worth in the region of £10million.

However, Premiership Rugby have their end-of-season final scheduled for June 26. It is understood they have no plans to move that date, which has been set since last October.

The clubs would also object to any of their players missing the final by being released to play for the Lions.

Under an agreement struck by World Rugby in San Francisco in 2017, the summer window for international Test matches was shortened by a month, from June to July.

Premiership Rugby are sticking to that agreement and, consequently, have no plans to release players, even though they would be likely to receive some of the cash windfall from a potential Lions Test at the home of English rugby.

Six Nations 2019 | Final round matches | 16/03/2019

1/58

They would have concerns about player welfare, as organisations such as the Rugby Players Association have, in the past, raised the issue of the number of high-profile games in a calendar year.

English rugby’s governing body, the RFU, refused to comment about the potential Test on Thursday morning, while a spokesperson for the touring side would not even corroborate whether preliminary talks had taken place.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in