Super 6: First season to start after 2019 Rugby World Cup

Rory Hutton and Andrew Chalmers of Watsonians challenge Craig Keddie of fellow Super 6 team Boroughmuir at Myreside in December last year. PIcture: SNS Group

The six participants - Ayr, Boroughmuir, Heriot’s, Melrose, Stirling County and Watsonians - face 20 competitive matches each season, playing the other five teams once at home and once away over the course of the campaign.

Two Super 6 play-off games and eight cross-border matches will also be included.

Matches will take place on Friday nights or Saturdays, depending on the home team’s preference, with the opening fixtures scheduled for the weekend of November 9.

The tournament will reach its conclusion at the end of March, with semi-finals played over the weekend of March 7 2020 and the Final held on March 28.

Cross-border fixtures are expected to follow after the Super 6 Final, with matches likely to begin in mid-April. Talks are ongoing but teams from Wales are understood to be under consideration.

Scottish Rugby’s Sean Lineen, who is in charge of Super 6’s on-field responsibilities, said: “We have worked closely with the respective clubs to ensure the opening edition of Super 6 can be played over a block of time that allows the clubs and players to fully focus on this exciting new competition.

“The Rugby World Cup will generate a huge focus on the sport and following that it will be a great opportunity to launch Super 6 and play the matches over a set period of time which will really create that week-on-week competition to test the players and coaches and enable fans to easily follow the progress of the tournament.”