Newcastle and Bath awarded 4 points following postponements

Newcastle and Bath have each been given four points after their Premiership games on 26 December were cancelled due to opposition coronavirus cases.

Falcons and Bath were due to host Leicester and London Irish respectively but players from the visiting teams had to isolate because of the virus.

The points - equivalent to a win - lift Newcastle to second and Bath to sixth.

Tigers and Irish have been deemed to have lost their respective games but have been awarded two points each.

The decision was made by a Premiership Rugby panel of chairman Andy Higginson, chief executive Darren Childs and rugby director Phil Winstanley in line with a newly-implemented points system for such instances.

"The health and safety of players, staff, management, officials and supporters is our only priority, so the correct decision was taken to call the game(s) off," said a Premiership statement.

Both Leicester and Irish closed their training grounds to prevent a significant outbreak, with the Exiles reopening their facilities on Monday for further testing.

As well as positive cases at the clubs, other players have had to self-isolate due to contact tracing or experiencing symptoms of the virus.