The final two rounds of the European Cup and Challenge Cup will be postponed and the tournaments will move straight to the beating rounds, said Premier League rugby chief executive Darren Childs.
The French government banned Top 14 clubs from competing in the European tournaments against clubs from the United Kingdom and Ireland over the next two weekends due to COVID-19 concerns.
European Professional Rugby Club (EPCR) decided to cancel the matches at first but Childs said the decision was scrapped due to lack of space in a dense record.
“The reason we can’t reorganize those is that there are no weekends available. Our season is now full until we have the final round,” Childs told British media.
“It was decided quickly by all three leagues [Premiership, Top 14 and PRO14] that we will complete the competitions in the last four weekends [in April and May]. “
Childs said the EPCR is ready to announce a revised structure of the competitions in the coming weeks.
Following French government guidance, the English Premier League opted to implement a two-week break instead of bringing home fixtures to fill the empty weekends.
The Premier League said it had decided not to change the existing league schedule to protect the welfare of players and staff.
“We have had 70 players in the last three weeks who have proved very good with COVID, and in that time we have lost five games,” said Premier League Rugby director Phil Winstanley.
“It didn’t make any sense to bring games forward from later in the season until this time, when they are at their peak. [virus] frequency and maximum risk. “