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Murrayfield has stolen a march on the Premiership and will allow some fans attend PRO14 next weekend

(Photo by Gary Hutchison/SNS Group via Getty Images)

Officials in Scotland are celebrating after Murrayfield was given permission to become first professional rugby venue in the UK to allow a small number of spectators to attend a match since the outbreak of the coronavirus restrictions.

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The Guinness PRO14 returns this weekend following its five-month suspension due to the pandemic and while no spectators are allowed attend this Saturday’s Glasgow versus Edinburgh game at Murrayfield, the way has been cleared for some fans to attend the August 28 rematch between the teams.

This development puts Scotland ahead of the Gallagher Premiership on the road to normality as matches in England have so far gone ahead behind closed doors. 

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A statement issued on Friday read: “Scottish Government has supported Scottish Rugby’s plans which will make the game the first professional rugby match in the UK to welcome spectators since the Covid-19 lockdown in March.

“Scottish Rugby’s chief operating officer Dominic McKay said: “Scottish Rugby is delighted that a limited number of spectators will be in BT Murrayfield on Friday, August 28, to watch the Guinness PRO14 match between Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors.

“We are pleased our work with the Scottish Government will ensure that players, support staff and fans will be covered by a comprehensive event plan for everyone’s safety including physical distancing requirements.

“Scottish Rugby would like to thank government ministers and officials who have helped us make this happen, and our own colleagues who pulled together a robust operational plan for the match.

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“We hope that our experience and learnings from a live spectator event next Friday can help all of Scottish sport, and the wider events industry restart.”

The fixture is designated as an Edinburgh home match and ticketing information will be issued by the club early next week. Richard Cockerill’s side are currently leaders of Conference B in the PRO14 and are targeting securing semi-final qualification against rivals Glasgow, the third place team in Conference A.  

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SK 45 minutes ago
Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones

The way they are defending is sometime pathetic to be honest. Itoje is usually on the inside of the rush and he is paired with a slower tight forward. Unable to keep up with the rush we have seen the line become disconnected on the inside where the big boys are. How many times have we seen Earl rush past the first receiver almost into no mans land covering no attacker. It looks like a system without any guidance. Tome Wright, Ikitau and a number of Wallabies went back to this soft centre as did Williams, Jordan and several others. Also when the line is broken the multiple lines of defence seems to be missing. The rush is predicated on a cover and recovery system with multiple lines of defence but with England you dont see it any more. Fitness and conditioning seems to be off as well as players are struggling to keep up with the intensity of the rush. Felix Jones has left a huge hole. The whole situation was and is a mess. Why they insist on not letting him go and having him work remotely is beyond me. Its leading to massive negative press and is a hot button issue thats distracting from the squad. Also the communication around Jones and his role has been absolute rubbish and is totally disjointed. While some say he is working remotely and playing a role others are saying theres been no contact. His role has not been defined and so people keep asking and keep getting different answers. England need a clean break from him and need to start over. Whatever reason for his leaving its time to cut the rope before the saga drags the whole Borthwick regime down. As for Joe El Abd well good luck to him. He is being made to look like an amateur by the whole saga and he is being asked to coach a system thats not his and which has been perfected and honed since 2017 by Nienaber, Jones, Erasmus and Co and which was first started by White in 2004. He is literally trying to figure out a system pioneered by double world cup winning coaches at the highest level and coach it at the same time. Talk about being on a hiding to nothing.

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