The 2015/16 Aviva Premiership season will kick off on the World Cup’s quarter final weekend (October 16-18, 2015), meaning that the campaign can progress without the need for any scheduled midweek matches.
Furthermore, Premiership Rugby’s clubs will receive additional payments from the RFU to boost income during 2015/16, compensate the delay of the season start, and incentivise the signing of a new long-form agreement between the two parties.
From the Saints’ perspective, this means that the club now has a firm date around which to plan not just the start of the 2015/16 season, but also the completion of the new Barwell Stand.
The Stand’s building contract is now out to tender, with construction to begin immediately after the end of the 2014/15 campaign.
“The new agreement between Premiership Rugby and the RFU is good news on all levels,” Robson said. “But whatever happens on the national scale our main focus at Franklin’s Gardens is on what is good for the Saints.
“Today’s announcement means that we now have firm dates in the calendar around which to plan the complicated construction of a major stadium expansion, and end any uncertainty about the start of the 2015/16 season.
“Next year’s Rugby World Cup will give a massive boost to the sport in the East Midlands, and we are well placed to make the most of the opportunities that this will give us!”
