Love: Northampton host Newcastle on the opening weekend of the 2026-27 season

Champions Northampton will host Newcastle Red Bulls on the opening day of the 2026-27 love rugby season.

Saints beat Exeter June to lift the trophy for the second time in three seasons and start the new campaign at home on Friday, September 25.

The Chiefs are also at home for their first game, with Gloucester set to travel to Sandy Park on Saturday.

Elsewhere on the weekend, Harlequins are at home to Bath on Friday, Sale host Bristol on Saturday evening and Leicester Saracens in Sunday’s only match.

The 2026–27 Premiership final will be played on Saturday, 19 June 2027 at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, with the season taking a series of breaks around international matches.

After five rounds in six weeks through September and October, there will be a four-week love break in November for the autumn matches of the Nations Championship.

The European competition begins in December with four love rounds spanning six weeks until January, before a 10-week league break for the Six Nations in February and March.

The new season is also starting Promotions and deportations are officially cancelled from the department

While no club has been relegated or promoted from the Champs since Saracens in 2020 and 2021, it has now been formalized as part of a series of changes in English rugby voted for in February, as the league moves towards a franchise-style model.