Premiership Rugby Cup 2020/21 season cancelled due to Covid-19

The 2020/21 season of the Premiership Rugby Cup has been cancelled following concerns due to Covid-19.

The tournament was originally scheduled to begin from April and was agreed to be played as a midweek competition but now the organisers have decided to scrap this season's edition due to concerns around the safety of players and the risk of games not being completed.

"It was clear that in this unique season it would not be possible to add additional players to playing squads and properly prepare them for competition without compromising the clubs' Covid-19 training bubble which everyone has fought so hard to protect," read a statement from Premiership Rugby.

"In the light of these player welfare and competition integrity concerns the cup cannot proceed this season."

Earlier, in October last year, Professional Game Board agreed that the 2020/21 season will be development focused and will contain only club registered players.

Also, it was agreed that the players would not be selected in a match day squad if they had played 20 minutes or more on the previous weekend or a midweek game in that week.

The final of the 2019/20 season of Premiership Rugby Cup saw Sale Sharks beat Harlequins 27-19 after the game was postponed from March 2020 to September after a member of staff from one of the clubs tested positive for Covid-19.