Premiership to relax ban on releasing non-England players for Six Nations - Report

The postponement of the Six Nations until later this year teed up a potential stumbling block for the likes of Wales, Scotland and Italy with a number of their players currently representing Premiership clubs in England.

The Premiership currently has strict policies around releasing non-England players outside of official test windows which has seen the likes of Jake Polledri, Dan Biggar and many other represent their clubs' of Six Nations off weeks.

Similar situations have occurred for the likes of Faf de Klerk, Francois Louw and Willie Le Roux for South Africa in past but according to a report by The Guardian, these restrictions will be relaxed for the rescheduled Six Nations' tests according to the Guardian.

The tests are set to be scheduled for 31 October later this year with Ireland and Italy to play a test before then as the competition comes to a late end. 

Scotland's squad for the competition has four players plying their trade in the Premiership while the likes of Rees-Zammit, Tomas Francis, Dan Biggar, Rhys Carre, Rhys Webb and Taulupe Faletau are some of the potential Welsh squad members in England.

Under the Premiership rule on the release of players, any club who unilaterally permits a player to appear for any other union faces disciplinary action: Northampton were find £60,000 at the end of 2013 for allowing George North to appear for Wales in a Test arranged outside World Rugby’s window while Bath were handed a similar sanction for allowing the release of Faletau to play South Africa.

Full Story