REGULATION 9 (ii) Unless Council approves otherwise the Southern Hemisphere Release Period shall operate each year. It shall commence on or around July 1 and shall conclude on or around August 31. Players shall be released prior to the Southern Hemisphere Release Period in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 9.9. (iii) Subject to the provisions of Regulation 9.32 during the Southern Hemisphere Release Period Unions may only exercise the Right to Release pursuant to this Regulation 9 for six weeks out of the nine week period. The six weeks shall be the same weeks for each of the senior National Representative Team, the next senior National Representative Team and the Under 20 National Representative Team. (iv) Unless Council approves otherwise for the purposes of this Regulation 9, Southern Hemisphere Union shall mean the Unions listed in Appendix 2, Part A and Southern Hemisphere International Match(es), International Tour or International Tournament shall mean those Matches, Tours or Tournaments listed in Appendix 2, Part B. Effective from 1 June 2012 a Tournament Release Period shall be introduced to be known as the Four Nations Release Period. (c) Four Nations Release Period (i) The Right to Release for Matches shall apply to Players who are eligible pursuant to Regulation 8 to represent the senior, the next senior National Representative Team or the Under 20 National Representative Team of a Four Nations Union in the Four Nations International Tournament during the Four Nations Release Period. (ii) Unless Council approves otherwise the Four Nations Release Period shall operate each year for an eight week period. It shall commence on or around the third weekend in August and shall conclude on or around the first weekend in October each year. Players shall be released prior to the Four Nations Release Period in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 9.9. (iii) Subject to the provisions of Regulation 9.32 and Regulation 9.33 during the Four Nations Release Period Unions may only exercise the Right to Release pursuant to this Regulation 9 for six weeks out of the eight week period. The six weeks shall be the same weeks for each of the senior National Representative Team, the next senior National Representative Team and the Under 20 National Representative Team. (iv) Unless Council approves otherwise for the purposes of this Regulation 9, Four Nations Union shall mean the Unions listed in Appendix 2, Part B. Last update: 14 January, 2015 159
World Rugby Handbook
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