THE promotion hopes of Farnham and Alton rugby clubs are in the balance after the RFU, the game’s governing body, today announced the end of the 2019/20 season.

Farnham were top of London 2 South West and Alton second behind Petersfield in the Hampshire Premiership when all rugby was suspended last week in the wake of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

But now the RFU has decided that only the Gallagher Premiership, the pinnacle of English rugby, will survive a cull which has prematurely ended the current campaign.

This means that Farnham and Alton must now wait to see whether or not they will be promoted to London 1 South and London 3 South West respectively.

Bill Sweeney, the chief executve of the RFU, said: "We are working through the implications of ending the season early and have instigated a thorough process to ensure fair and balanced outcomes for the game. We will communicate these outcomes by the middle of April.

"While we would like to provide all the answers now, we need some time to get it right for the best interests of the game. Rest assured that we are working on this as a priority."