The decision follows last season’s withdrawal of Wales and Scotland from the ‘A’ competition as both unions looked to ease their growing financial problems.

Incoming Welsh Rugby Union chief executive David Moffett wasted no time in pulling the plug on Wales’ involvement in a bid to save cash and Scotland quickly followed suit, announcing they would not take part in 2004.

Moffett’s decision was unpopular both at home and with the other Six Nations unions who have used the ‘A’ internationals to blood Test stars of the future - several members of the current England squad, including Jason Robinson, have played for the second string.

But Scotland’s subsequent exit left just four teams in the competition, prompting the Six Nations Committee to postpone all ‘A’ matches for next year.

The Six Nations’ loss is English club rugby’s gain, however, as the Zurich Premiership has taken advantage of the ensuing gap in the fixture list to stage three rounds of the 2003/04 league campaign, potentially spelling the end of midweek games.

Last season several Premiership teams were left without a home match for up to 10 weeks because of European competition and the Six Nations, which takes place in February and March.

The decision was reached by Premier Rugby, the umbrella organisation responsible for the 12 Premiership clubs, who have been looking at ways of easing the fixture congestion which blighted some sides at the end of last season.

Premier Rugby chief executive Howard Thomas said: “We have been working hard to resolve the current season structure issues for some time.

“We are pleased to be able to provide supporters with a more consistent Premiership program next season. This structure will be trialed this coming season and has been agreed by the Premiership clubs and is fully supported by our commercial partners.

“Mid-week games have never been an ideal solution for players or supporters. By playing through the Six Nations we are able to reschedule the mid-week games ensuring all the players have at least a week’s recovery between each match.

“It also means that there will not be any Premiership games on the same weekend as the European semi-finals, which reduces the likelihood of having to further rearrange fixtures.

“This is a new move for us but the decision was made having considered the success of playing through the autumn internationals.

“During this period there seems to be no negative effect on attendance or support for the club game and we are confident that the Premiership games played during the Six Nations period will be as equally supported as those played during the autumn internationals.”

The Zurich Premiership rounds will take place when England play away – the weekends of February 14/15, February 21/22 and March 27/28 2004.