The Gallagher Premiership plan to hold matches at non-rugby venues and take more games to neutral grounds in an attempt to grow the league’s popularity, Sportsmail can reveal.
Harlequins have held annual ‘Big Game’ matches at Twickenham since 2008. They faced Northampton Saints there in December and will also meet Gloucester at the home of English rugby next month, and Saracens hosted Bristol Bears at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in March.
Premiership Rugby bosses hope such fixtures will become more commonplace as they look to expand into new areas where rugby is not the dominant sport.
‘We should all have a joined-up approach and the Big Game is a good example of that,’ Premiership Rugby chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor told Sportsmail.