England's Premiership Rugby teams received a major boost on Thursday with news that elite sports would be able to return to training in June.
The Department for digital, culture, media and sport announced guideline for elite sports to take the first step to returning to training immediately.
Step one guidelines include small groups of players being able to train under certain circumstances and as long as adhering to social distancing.
The next step will allow athletes to train in clusters and also enable contact tackle training but it is not yet determined when that would begin.
Premiership Rugby CEO Darren Childs welcomed the news from the DCMS on Thursday morning (AEST).
"Our priority is the health and safety of supporters, players, management, staff and the wider community, so our season will resume only when it is safe to do so," he said.
"I’d like to thank the RFU, RPA and Professional Game Board, for their high levels of collaboration throughout the crisis."
