Welsh domestic rugby returns with new Premiership Cup

Welsh domestic rugby returns in earnest this weekend with the first round of the new Indigo Group Premiership Cup.

The 12 Premiership clubs are divided into two pools of six - West and East - for the inaugural competition.

The action begins in East on Saturday, 18 September with Merthyr v Ebbw Vale, Pontypridd v Newport and Cardiff v RGC.

Bridgend v Carmarthen Quins, Llandovery v Swansea and Aberavon v Llanelli kick-off the West competition on the same afternoon.

Cup rugby competitions returned at a lower level in Wales earlier in the month but WRU Community Director Geraint John told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast programme extra preparations were required for Premiership-level rugby to return.

"It's been a long time for them with players who are semi-professional," said John.

"We've worked closely with the Premier clubs on getting them back onto the field, making sure all the precautions are done off the field in terms of making sure they are safe and healthy and ready to play and that's been the key part all the way through.

"Everybody's sort of asked why aren't they playing a little bit earlier. We felt in terms of the Premiership they needed a little bit more time to prepare themselves.

"There could be some academy players playing, there could be regional players playing in this competition as well, so we needed to make sure that everybody had the quality and the time to prepare so they're ready to go on the field.

"It's nice for them to be back this weekend and in a different format as well."

Domestic rugby in Wales has been on an 18-month pause due to the coronavirus crisis and the Premiership Cup marks a significant step towards normality, with league competition scheduled for later months.

All divisions from Championship to Division Three will kick-off on 13 November, with the Premiership not starting until 11 December.

Before then those semi-professional teams have the Premiership Cup, with sides playing each other home and away to decide the top two Welsh sides from each group.

The first few games are likely to be played under modified rules because of Covid-19, with clubs playing warm-up games under those restrictions.

"I feel we've adapted to that well and we've played under those rules for pre-season," Ebbw Vale coach Greg Woods said.

"We hope to start the Premiership proper on December 18, but this cup competition is going to be a tough 10-week block.

"It will be a really tough run of games. We've got to be ready for that as a squad because there could be injuries with the players having not played for so long."

After the final round on 27 November, the winner from West will then host the runners-up from East in one semi-final, while the East winner will host the West runner-up in the other semi-final.