Aviva Premiership
West Country tournament to fill gaps left by Rugby World Cup
ESPN Staff
April 10, 2015
Greig Laidlaw
Greig Laidlaw© Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Bath, Gloucester and Exeter Chiefs will face each other in a pre-season tournament.

The tournament will fill the place of the delayed start to the Aviva Premiership season which will kick in at the same time as the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals. With Kingsholm in use for the World Cup, Gloucester will use Bristol Rovers' Memorial Stadium, the former ground of Bristol Rugby.

The teams will meet on a round-robin basis and Gloucester CEO Stephen Vaughan is looking forward to the occasion. He said: "Everyone at Gloucester Rugby and within the city is extremely excited at the prospect of hosting four Rugby World Cup pool matches at Kingsholm. However, it has posed us a challenge in terms of our preseason preparations.

"Even though the start of the Aviva Premiership season is delayed, we still need to prepare as usual and that means competitive rugby. So, we're delighted that we've been able to organise this mini tournament with Bath and Exeter. The nature of our agreement with Rugby World Cup 2015 means that we're not able to use Kingsholm for our home matches. We've explored various options, but are pleased to confirm that we will play those games at the Memorial Stadium.

"Fortunately, 'The Mem' is handily placed for a lot of our supporters and although we fully appreciate it may be slightly further for some, I know people will understand our reasoning for us having to relocate our fixtures. Bristol Rovers have been fantastic through the process and I'm sure we'll make it feel like home when the games are played.

"We hope to see as many of our fantastic supporters down there cheering us on, as well as any local rugby fans who have a desire to watch Premiership sides in action."

© ESPN Staff

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