Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie and his Kings counterpart, Rob Kempson, are cautiously excited about the possibility of the PRO14 resuming on 22 August.

The target date was agreed at the PRO14 board meeting on Tuesday, 9 June based upon the information currently available from each jurisdiction in which the competition is played.

The planned return of the competition includes derbies in South Africa, Italy and Scotland, and two rounds of pool matches yet to be determined in Ireland and Wales (on 22 and 29 August respectively), followed by the semi-finals and final early in September.

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‘Everyone is excited to get back on the field, but we realise there is a much bigger picture at play here and that it will take a long and careful process to reach that point as the players are still training individually,’ said Fourie.

‘We are awaiting instructions from SA Rugby as to when we can return to training and the processes to follow in that regard. We have plans in place regarding what will be needed when we eventually start training again and we will adapt that accordingly when necessary.’

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On his part, Kempson commented: ‘It would be fantastic to play again, and the players are understandably keen to get back on the field, but we are realistic in our expectations.

‘We will take a very cautious approach, and as soon as we get the go-ahead from SA Rugby and government, we will start with the next stages of our preparation programme.’

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