IRFU chief executive Philip Browne has exclusively told Off The Ball's State of the Union that the association will do all that it can to make sure that interprovincial matches will go ahead at the Aviva Stadium on August 22nd.

“At least we have a plan, we have a date. One would hope that the Government and NPHET (National Public Health Emergency Team) and the Department of Health will look at those [plans] seriously, and if they don’t like it they have to come back and tell us why they don’t like it", said Browne.

"And then we can try and change it, we need to work with the Government and with the health authorities to try and make it happen," the IRFU chief told Keith Wood and Ger Gilroy.

"I don't think simply ‘No' is not a good enough answer. We need to understand why if it is going to be ‘No,’ why is it no? And what can we change to make it happen?" he added.

6 October 2018; James Lowe of Leinster in action against Joey Carbery of Munster during the Guinness PRO14 Round 6 match between Leinster and Munster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Browne stressed the importance of there being a restart date for rugby in the calendar.

"It’s very easy to switch everything off - it’s much harder to switch it on again. We’ve submitted a detailed return to training and return to play, and event management protocols to Sport Ireland’s expert group.

11 January 2020; Toulouse supporters celebrate as Connacht are held up on the try-line during the Heineken Champions Cup Pool 5 Round 5 match between Connacht and Toulouse at The Sportsground in Galway. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

"Effectively, we have driven a stake into the ground I suppose, saying we have some target to aim for. We are aiming for the 22nd of August to start up a set of interprovincial derbies as part of the tail end of the Pro14 season and we’ll play them in a controlled environment in the Aviva Stadium.

"Unless we have that stake in the ground, it becomes very difficult to plan for anything. So we have laid out how we are going to do it, it’s best practices from various sports from around the world."

Browne told Off The Ball that the IRFU will be closely monitoring how other associations are restarting, such as the Bundesliga in Germany.

Acknowledging the complicated nature of the current situation, Browne said rugby will continue to refine its plans as new best practices are established, as more sports return.

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