Saracens will not play again until at least March after Championship start date delayed

Three-time European champions were automatically relegated from the Premiership for salary cap infringements and will not play a competitive match before next February’s Six Nations

Saracens will not begin their Championship campaign until March at the earliest (Getty Images)

Saracens will not play a competitive fixture until March at the very least after the start of the second-tier Championship was delayed by two months.

The Rugby Football Union on Monday announced a delay to the Greene King IPA Championship from it’s initial January start date after clubs unanimously voted to push the opening weekend back to 6 March in the hope of having fans back at matches. The decision also took into account the requirement to play under adapted laws if the sport were to return next month, given the majority of clubs are unable to fund the required Covid-19 testing programme needed for elite sport to continue.

It means that Saracens’s international contingent will not have any club game time before the start of the Six Nations in February, with the likes of Maro Itoje, the Vunipola brothers and national team captain Owen Farrell at risk of going into the tournament undercooked after not playing for two months.

Saracens hope to play a series of pre-season friendlies before their first season in the second tier of English rugby in 26 years, similar to the match against a Leicester Tigers XV that took place earlier this month.

A Saracens statement read: "We are currently working hard with a number of other clubs to put a schedule of RFU-sanctioned pre-season games together in the form of a separate cup competition, and we will share information in due course.

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"These continue to be extremely difficult times for professional sports clubs, and we are sensitive to the different positions that Championship clubs find themselves in.

"We will continue to work hard with other Championship clubs and the RFU to deliver this proposed season, which guarantees a competition and the opportunity to earn promotion into the Gallagher Premiership."

Saracens hope to secure an immediate return to the Premiership following their automatic relegation from the top flight last season as punishment for their salary cap breaches, with the three-time European champions deducted 135 points for repeated infringements over the course of three separate Premiership campaigns.

The club have not played a competitive fixture since their final Premiership match against Bath on 4 October, although their large number of internationals featured throughout November and December’s Autumn Nations Cup.

They will do so in a revamped Championship that will be split into two conferences, with Mark McCall’s side joining Cornish Pirates, Ampthill, Jersey, London Scottish and Hartpury University in Conference A, with Ealing Trailfinders, Coventry, Nottingham, Bedford, Doncaster and Richmond making up the other group. A play-off final at the end of the season between the two conference winners will determine who will be promoted to the Premiership in 2021/22.

"Given the possibility of no crowds being allowed for some of the season, and wishing to take Championship rugby to a wider audience, it is hoped to stream as many of the matches as possible," an RFU statement on behalf of the Championship clubs.

"As a result of Championship clubs having little or no income for the last nine months, the majority do not have the financial ability to meet the costs of Covid testing required under the elite sport framework.

"The clubs have, therefore, been in regular dialogue with the RFU to consider options and solutions to conclude the season.

Saracens were relegated for breaching Premiership salary cap regulations (Getty)

"The clubs have chosen not to return to play under adapted laws, and the March start date allows time for clubs to gain clarity from Sport England regarding the Sport Winter Survival Package before starting pre-season training.

"All Championship clubs are unanimously behind the intended competition as outlined, but require some weeks of full training to make squads 'match ready', subsequent to the long absence of competitive rugby.

"A small number of Championship clubs have returned to training operating under the elite sport framework, and may arrange pre-season friendlies ahead of the restart in early March."