ACT Chief Health Officer Health officier to decide Brumbies' home game fate

Rugby Australia has finalised a deal with Fox Sports to broadcast a 12-week domestic competition from July 3 in Brisbane, with the Brumbies to play their first game against the Melbourne Rebels on July 4.

The match has been scheduled for Canberra Stadium, but the ACT government-run facility is officially closed until July 7 under the ACT's public closure of non-essential business.

The Brumbies and Rugby Australia alerted the stadium to the potential season-opener, but it's likely they will need to make a submission to ACT Chief Health Officier Dr Kerryn Coleman.

Coleman will decide if the game can go ahead three days earlier than the opening plan, as well as making a ruling on crowds if the Brumbies hope to have fans in the stands.

The Canberra Times revealed earlier this week there have been initial discussions about allowing fans into the eastern grandstand while keeping the western side as a "clean zone" for players and officials.

Whether that is feasible will depend on Coleman's ruling, but the Brumbies were waiting for clarification about whether the stadium closure was still enforced. The initial closure date was set until July 9, but was revised to July 7.

"It's definitely good to have the certainty around the start date now," said Brumbies boss Phil Thomson. "Now we've got that, we can start planning for a home game on July 4.

"Things have been moving very quickly. We'll be watching what happens with the other sports and working closely with the ACT government, and the stadium, and hopefully we can have crowds. If not on July 4, at some point during the season."

The NRL and AFL will allow a small number of fans to attend games this weekend, with officials pushing for that number to increase in the coming weeks.

The Canberra Raiders, however, are being forced to play "home" games at Campbelltown to meet the NRL's biosecurity measures. It means the Raiders will be denied any chance to host fans in the capital until at least July 25.

Rugby Australia will unveil the rest of the draw on Thursday, with the Brumbies to start at home before spending almost a month on the road before returning to Canberra in August for a trio of home games. They will finish the regular season on the road, before two weeks of finals in September.

The Super Rugby AU season will run for 12 weeks, with each team playing 10 home and away fixtures and having two byes. The Western Force will rejoin the competition, while the NSW Waratahs and Queensland Reds will start the season on July 3.

New Zealand's Super Rugby competition has been overwhelmed with support after it was announced this week crowds will be able to attend games without limit restrictions.

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It's likely attendance numbers in Canberra will be limited for the foreseeable future, but opening the gates to loyal members and sponsors could be a perfect boost for the Brumbies.

Time away from the game has also worked in the Brumbies' favour, even though their winning momentum was halted after losing just once in the first six rounds of the competition.

Hooker Folau Fainga'a (toe), Scott Sio (hand) and Allan Alaalatoa (arm) have all recovered from injuries, which would have usually seen them miss large chunks of the season.

"I had a tear in my foot and it ruled me out for a couple of weeks. It was something that was really a bump on the road for me, but I'm back into full training now and it hasn't been hurting since," Fainga'a said.

"I'm excited to put my name up for selection whenever that is. It's exciting for everyone, good to see some sort of rugby being played again and the Kiwi sides are kicking off this weekend, so that will be good to see how they go.

"It would be pretty cool to have our fans and families out there watching us. That's something the guys are trying to sort out, for us it's just about preparing for whatever is to come to be ready for round one."

Teams are set to fly-in, fly-out to games, although arrangements for Perth matches later in the competition are still to be finalised.

Will all teams starting on zero points, the competition will involve 10 weeks of round-robin matches before a two-week finals series featuring a qualifying final on September 12 and a final on September 19.

SUPER RUGBY AU ROUND ONE

July 3: Queensland Reds v NSW Waratahs at Brisbane, 7.05pm.

July 4: ACT Brumbies v Melbourne Rebels at Canberra Stadium, 7.15pm.

Bye: Western Force