RFU agrees to bring forward England-New Zealand clash

Thursday 1 April 2010
Published By: David Rawlings
International Rugby > New Zealand

England's December clash with New Zealand has been brought forward to the autumn after the RFU agreed to a fixture switch.

The move was made following Premier Rugby and the Professional Game Board's decision to move the England players' release period forward by a week, meaning the game will now take place on November 6th rather than December 4th.

It will mean that England play the All Blacks, Australia, Samoa and South Africa on successive Saturdays, with the reigning World Cup holders then taking on the Barbarians at Twickenham on December 4th - a sequence described as "ideal" by RFU business operations director Paul Vaughan, who said that everybody will benefit.

He explained: "We're delighted that PRL and PGB have approved the change which completes a superb series of games at Twickenham Stadium this autumn. Five consecutive Saturday games all kicking off at 14:30 GMT will be good for our supporters."

Posted by David Rawlings