Premiership Rugby champion Saracens has announced that it will play future home London derbies against Harlequins at Tottenham Hotspur’s new 62,000-seater stadium. Saracens currently plays regular home fixtures at the 15,000-capacity Allianz Park in London, but first moved its derby games against Harlequins to Wembley a decade ago to meet the extra demand for tickets. Last season it played the match at the London Stadium, formerly the Olympic Stadium, which will host the game for the last time this Saturday. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Mark McCall, Saracens’ director of rugby, confirmed that this year’s tie was supposed to be played at the Tottenham Stadium, but the delays to its construction prevented this happening. With Spurs set to play their first Premier League and Champions League games at the stadium next month, Saracens are clear to use the venue from the 2019-20 Premiership Rugby season onwards. It is not presently clear whether rugby fixtures will be staged on the grass, or the artificial turf which will be deployed for NFL fixtures, although the latter seems more likely, especially since Saracens’ Allianz Park already utilises a 3G synthetic surface.
From next season, Tottenham Hotspur’s 62,000-seater venue will host derby matches between London-based rugby union sides Saracens and Harlequins.