New tournament launched to decide Kings of the North
The Kings of the North has been inaugurated by the three clubs to provide fans with competitive action during the gap created by the delayed start to the 2015/16 Aviva Premiership and the hiatus of the LV= Cup.
Ensuring competitive action, the Falcons, Leicester and Sale have agreed that squads will be reflective of the club’s Premiership squads, which will allow Kings of the North to play a key role in ensuring the new season starts with a fanfare.
Playing each other home and away with points awarded on the same basis as the Aviva Premiership, with the leading team at the end of the games being crowned Kings of the North and lifting the Richard III Cup.
Newcastle Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards said: “The new competition will give us a strong start to the new season, with two games at home against quality opposition.
“Playing Sale and Tigers will allow us to come back from what will have been a long summer and immediately test our new players, systems and processes, which will hopefully play a key role in us hitting the ground running when the Premiership starts in October.
“With the competition running as Rugby World Cup 2015 kicks off, I hope that the club will see good crowds at what will be hugely competitive fixtures while rugby is at the front of peoples minds.”
The Falcons begin their quest at home to Sale, over the weekend of September 4/5/6 providing supporters with an early opportunity to see the 2015/16 Falcons squad in action.
A dedicated website at [www.kingsofthenorth.net][1] is live from today (Thursday, April 16) and will include match details, ticket advice and news updates. Or see the official websites of the three participating clubs.
Both home fixtures in The Kings of the North competition form part of the Falcons 2015/16 Season Ticket Membership package, with match ticket pricing due to be announced shortly.
Season Ticket Memberships for the 2015/16 season are on sale now, with adult prices starting from £204 for standing and from £312 for seating.
After a huge response in 14/15 adult season tickets are once again entitled to claim up to two Season Ticket Memberships for Under 11s free.
For more details on Season Ticket Memberships please call 0871 2266060.
**Kings of the North fixtures:**
– September 4/5/6: Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks
– September 11/12/13: Sale Sharks v Leicester Tigers
– September 18/19/20: Leicester Tigers v Newcastle Falcons
– September 25/26/27: Newcastle Falcons v Leicester Tigers
– October 2/3/4: Sale Sharks v Newcastle Falcons
– October 9/10/11: Leicester Tigers v Sale Sharks
[1]: http://www.kingsofthenorth.net
