EALING Trailfinders have set up a new pre-season tournament called the Trailfinders Challenge Cup.

Trailfinders will face-off against former European champions, Saracens, along with Doncaster Knights, in the run-up to the 2020/21 Greene King IPA Championship season that is due to start in March.

The inaugural competition has been created by the Ealing team, providing £27,000 across the three clubs to cover the tournament's operational cost, along with £20,000 prize money for the winners.

The competition will last six weeks and is due to begin next weekend, on January 16, with each team playing each other home and away.

The usual points system will be in place for wins, draws, try bonus points and losing points.

All games will be live-streamed, as due to the national lockdown, fans aren't allowed at the games.

Ben Ward, Director of Rugby at Ealing Trailfinders said: "We are delighted to be playing in the Trailfinders Challenge Cup.

"To have competitive rugby and a trophy up for grabs will give us a real focus over the coming weeks.

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"Saracens and Doncaster have both been in training for a while and we are all desperate to play rugby and get games under our belt before the league season starts.

"The games will be exciting to watch and we want to show the quality that is on show in the Championship."

Former three-time European champions and five-time Premiership champions, Saracens were relegated to the Championship last season following their breach of salary cap regulations and are heavy favourites to get promoted straight back to the top-flight, led by England captain, Owen Farrell.

The Trailfinders Challenge Cup will be a great test for Trailfinders to see how they can fare against the Championship's theoretically strongest team.