By MARK CASHMAN The 2020 Shute Shield competition will kick off on Saturday July 18 with the grand final replay between Sydney Uni and Warringah at Rat Park and the match between Eastern Suburbs and Gordon at Chatswood Oval the pick of Week One action. The Covid-19 delayed competition will be played out over 13 home and away rounds featuring one bye for each club and a three-week finals series culminating on October 31 with the grand final. The 11 teams from 2019 will be joined by Penrith and Newcastle broadening the footprint of the competition at a critical stage for the game. And Sydney Rugby Union president Phil Parsons believes crowds will be part of the equation by the time the competition is underway. "There are two principles under which we could have crowds - either we have crowds under 25 percent of ground capacity or crowds with social distancing," Parsons told the Big Sports Breakfast on Friday morning. "Within those principles we're comfortable with that.