English clubs seeking to reduce length of Six Nations to five weeks

England’s leading clubs are seeking a reduction in the length of the Six Nations from seven to five weeks, it is understood.

The tournament’s committee to is to consider a proposal by the Premiership to remove the two fallow weekends, thereby freeing up space at the business end of their domestic and European season.

A potential start time for the new format – which would see five rounds of matches played on consecutive weekends and not move the tournament out of its traditional February-March window, has yet to be discussed and any change would align with the beginning of the new global season in 2020.

Should the proposal be approved, it would represent the biggest change to the Six Nations since Italy were admitted in 2000. Back then, the tournament was a 10-week tournament with matches every fortnight. The schedule was reduced to it’s current format three years later.

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Meanwhile, newly released figures have shown there was only four positive results from 1,001 anti-doping tests taken across English rugby last season.

That represents a significant rise in the number of blood and urine samples taken from players at all levels of the game – 282 more than in 2014-15 and almost double the figure from 2013-14.

Most of this increase came at the elite end of the game – England’s international players were tested 360 times during the last campaign, up from 135 a season before – because of the World Cup in 2015 and build-up to last year’s Olympic Games.

In the foreword of the Rugby Football Union's annual anti-doping report, the Rugby Players' Association director, Richard Bryan, wrote: "Given the impact of doping on the wider sporting landscape, it is reassuring to see another season concluded with no indication of systemic doping or illicit drug use among the elite player population in England."

Nigel Melville, the RFU's professional rugby director and chair of the anti-doping advisory group, wrote: "A clean sport is one which can thrive and grow, and one which will encourage the next generation of players to pick up a ball and play.

“Since taking over the professional rugby department I have been impressed by the genuine desire of all in the game to keep it doping-free.”

(Guardian service)