The final of the 2026-27 Celtic Challenge will be played at the ground of the highest-ranked team rather than a neutral venue.

The cross-border competition, which features two clubs from each of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, gets under way on Saturday, 5 December.

Teams play five home and away fixtures in the regular season and there is an added incentive for placings, with the higher seed of the two semi-final winners hosting the final.

Last season Wolfhounds beat Irish rivals Clovers in a final played at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh.

The champions, who won the title for the third successive season, get the 2026-27 campaign under way at home to Welsh side Brython Thunder in Belfast.

Edinburgh also travel to Ireland to face Clovers while the other Welsh team, Gwalia Lightning, entertain Glasgow.

Competition weekends

Round one: 5 December

Round two: 12 December

Round three: 19 December

Round four: 9 January

Round five: 16 January

Round six: 23 January

Round seven: 6 February

Round eight: 13 February

Round nine: 20 February

Round 10: 27 February

Semi-finals: 13 March

Final: Weekend of 27 March

Parkinson pointed to comments from Southampton chairman Dragan Solak, who said Saints had “suffered enough”.

“They are going to move on, and everybody else has to move on. I was reading the chairman quotes. They have been punished severely,” Parkinson said.

“They lost the chance to get into the Premier League. That is punishment enough. Tonda is a young manager, and I’m sure he has accepted responsibility.

“He will learn from that, but now everybody has to draw a line through it and move on.”

Wrexham’s Hollywood owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, took a dig at Southampton with a promotional video released before their league fixture last month.

The Red Dragons went on to win that meeting 2-1 at the Racecourse, thanks to Keven Schlotterbeck’s own goal at the death.

That victory sent Wrexham into the extended international break on a high, and reduced pressure on Parkinson following a 6-0 defeat at West Ham.

But the triple promotion-winning manager admitted three weeks without a Championship fixture posed new challenges for Wrexham.

“It has been a long three weeks. The three weeks have been decent. The friendly against Wigan was really important,” Parkinson said.

“Three weeks is too long for the lads to go without a competitive game. All we could do is plan out the three weeks, which we did.”

He added: “There have been a few things that did not go our way, but everybody is going to get that across a three-week period.

“In general, I feel the lads have trained well. They’ve had a decent balance of rest, fitness work and 11 vs 11 practice.”

Charlie Atkinson can see the funny side now.

“I mean, I met my hero,” he says smilingly.

Atkinson is remembering his second Prem appearance, back in September 2020. He was 18 years old. He had been ushered straight into the Wasps first team as squads were stretched to fulfil a condensed post-lockdown fixture list

Atkinson had just come off the bench against Saracens when, having fielded a kick downfield, he was blindsided by Owen Farrell’s reckless, high tackle. Atkinson was left unconscious on the Stonex pitch as the referee showed red.

Farrell was instantly contrite, waiting on the touchline to check on Atkinson and then visiting him again in the dressing room.

The incident, as with anything involving Farrell, attracted attention and debate.

“It definitely put my name out there,” adds Atkinson.

“It was obviously accidental, but as it was a concussion I was sent home for the week, I didn’t play again that season. It was probably a good thing, slowing down so that at 18, I could just focus on training and getting used to men’s rugby.”

Atkinson is good at seeing the upside. He has had to be. Perspective comes with experience and he has been through plenty already in his rugby career.

Three days after his 21st birthday, having established himself as his boyhood club’s first-choice fly-half, he unknowingly played in Wasps’ final ever game, a dramatic 40-36 defeat by Northampton.

“We’d seen a few rumours on Twitter that week but nothing major and we hadn’t heard anything from the owner or CEO, so we just thought ‘we’ll be alright’,” he says.

“It was a wasn’t even really in the back of my mind.

“That next Tuesday or Wednesday they broke the news that our jobs were gone. It was obviously very sad, it was the only club I ever knew.”

After Wasps went into administration in October 2022, Gloucester and Harlequins made approaches to sign Atkinson. But he was convinced by a meeting with Steve Borthwick, who had just steered Leicester to the Premiership title and was offering the security of a longer deal.

Atkinson duly signed up with Tigers. Borthwick and assistant Kevin Sinfield departed for England two months later.

Under new boss Dan McKellar, Atkinson endured a difficult year at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, shunted to the fringes.

Still, he had just completed on a house purchase in Leicester, when, a week later, his agent informed him Gloucester had agreed a deal to take him to Kingsholm.

Finally, despite the upheaval, he has found a home.

“I’m just forever grateful for Gloucester for coming in then because who knows where I could have ended up if I’d stayed at the Tigers,” he says.

“I love coming in here every day. There is a great, young core of guys, we made some great signings in the summer and everyone’s mates with everyone. It’s just a great feeling at the minute.”

Gloucester, who finished eighth last season, have started this campaign like a train.

Buoyed by the arrival of Jac Morgan, Dewi Lake, Jean Kleyn and others, they combined heft up front with deft hands out back to beat Prem finalist Exeter on the opening day, before flattening Harlequins 48-0 in front of a bouncing home crowd.

The Cherry and Whites sit in an unaccustomed position on the top of the Prem pile.

Up next, on Friday night, is a return to Leicester for Atkinson.

After the match, he will meet up with Jack van Poortvliet, Freddie Steward and others who he became mates with during his time at Tigers.

Such is Atkinson’s form, he could be spending more time with them in England camps.