Harlequin have been confirmed as the host club selected by DCMS to act as a pilot for Rugby Union, with supporters able to attend the match between Harlequins and Bath Rugby on 5th September at The Stoop.
The event will be utilised to demonstrate the strict delivery of social distancing measures to ensure crowd safety as rugby returns with supporters in the stands.
The selection of The Stoop as a host venue follows a detailed assessment of submissions by Premiership Rugby to DCMS.
🃏Big news! We've been selected to host a pilot event with supporters on 5th September v @bathrugby.
— Harlequins 🃏 (@Harlequins) August 26, 2020
📲 Full story: https://t.co/5SzOvKHuKF#COYQ #RugbyRestart pic.twitter.com/7w7gsIn2eC
Harlequins Chief Executive Officer Laurie Dalrymple said: “We are delighted to able to host this pilot event and we have been working incredibly hard with the relevant authorities to demonstrate that we can safely and securely host events with supporters.
“A huge amount of work has been done across the Club to ensure operationally and medically that we deliver our match day events to the highest standard, meeting the stringent guidelines. Our successful hosting of both Harlequins and London Irish matches at The Stoop since rugby’s return have been a great test, but having supporters in the stadium is what everyone has been striving for.
“We will communicate shortly with our supporters about how we will select those that are able to attend this match. We are sure they will understand that it is impossible to get everyone into the stadium for this pilot and we must have a selection process.
“We do of course hope that this pilot leads to further matches and increased numbers of supporters which will enable us to get as many supporters as possible into The Stoop, as soon as possible. At this stage, we ask our supporters to hold for further information which will come shortly while we wait for final details from DCMS.”
JOIN THE RUCK:
6 players who could have played for other countries but didn’t
Here are five of the biggest stars who could have played for England, but didn’t.
1. James Haskell – Wales
The hulking England forward opened up about his Welsh heritage to BBC Wales. He said: “I’m actually half Welsh, and I’m fully Welsh qualified, so I could have quite happily played for Wales,”
