The 2020/21 National League season will not start before January following the latest announcement from the Rugby Football Union.

The RFU have made the “difficult decision” following the increase in Covid-19 case numbers across the country which has led to additional government restrictions.

It means the new National League campaign will not take place until the New Year at the earliest.

NCA Chairman John Inverdale told ncarugby.com: “The decision taken is understandable and it offers all our clubs a chance to take a deep breath and recalibrate for the period up to Christmas.

“It’s hard to know what the outcome might be going forward but everyone involved with the NCA exec is working hard to find the best possible solution to an unprecedented dilemma – so that players, spectators and commercial partners can have something tangible to look forward to in the New Year.”

Clubs can continue to organise non-contact fixtures with other clubs using Ready4Rugby and other touch rugby activity. Limited and restricted contact rugby training can also continue under Stage D of the Roadmap.

The RFU continues to be in active dialogue with government about moving to Stage E on the Roadmap should we reach this point at any time before Christmas. If this is the case, competitive friendly matches could commence. 

  • The Adult and Age Grade Competitions Groups will also be making recommendations to Governance on what they can do to ensure that any competitions from January are meaningful, including whether to make changes to the structured season.
  • Governance also agreed that any decision to suspend promotion and relegation for the 2020/21 season would be referred to Council once the nature of the competitions is known.

Further guidance can be found on englandrugby.com