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2019–20 Premiership Rugby
The 2019–20 Gallagher Premiership was the 33rd season of the top flight English domestic rugby union competition and the second one to be sponsored by Gallagher. The reigning champions entering the season were Saracens, who had claimed their fifth title after defeating Exeter Chiefs in the 2019 final. London Irish had been promoted as champions from the 2018–19 RFU Championship at the first attempt. The competition was broadcast by BT Sport for the seventh successive season and with five games also simulcast free-to-air on Channel 5. Highlights of each weekend's games were shown on Channel 5 with extended highlights on BT Sport. Summary Exeter Chiefs won their second title after defeating Wasps in the final at Twickenham having also topped the regular season table. Saracens were automatically relegated after having failed to comply with prior years salary cap restrictions and were deducted a total of 105 points across two separate judgements. It was the second time ...
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Premiership Rugby
Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the top division of the English rugby union system. Premiership clubs qualify for Europe's two main club competitions, the European Rugby Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup. The winner of the second division, the RFU Championship is promoted to the Premiership and until 2020, the team finishing at the bottom of the Premiership each season was relegated to the Championship. The competition is regarded as one of the three top-level professional leagues in the Northern and Western Hemispheres, along with the Top 14 in France, and the cross-border United Rugby Championship for teams from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy and South Africa. The competition has been played since 1987, and has evolved into the current Premiership sys ...
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BT Sport
BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Broadcast Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. BT Sport is available on the BT TV, Sky and Virgin Media television platforms in the UK and Sky, Eir TV and Vodafone TV in the Republic of Ireland. BT Sport holds exclusive live UK and Republic of Ireland TV rights to 52 Premier League matches per season, the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UFC, National League, Ligue 1, Serie A, the European Rugby Challenge Cup, the Premiership Rugby Cup, MotoGP, the FIH Hockey World League and WWE. They are also the official broadcast partner of the European Rugby Champions Cup and Premiership Rugby. History Premier League deal, launch News of BT's first foray into sports broadcasting first came about on 12 June 201 ...
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Stuart Hooper
Stuart Hooper (born 18 November 1981) is the current director of rugby and former rugby union player, at Bath Rugby. He last played for Bath Rugby in the Aviva Premiership in April 2016. Early life Born in Exeter, Hooper played basketball at county level until he was 16, before opting for rugby on his move to the specialist sports campus at Ivybridge Community College. Career Saracens: 1999-2003 Hooper broke into the Saracens team whilst still a teenager and played alongside Frenchman Abdel Benazzi in the second row. Leeds: 2003-2007 After making over 30 appearances or so for Saracens he made a surprise move to Leeds Tykes in June 2003. He made his Tykes debut against Bath on 14 September 2003. During his time at Leeds he helped them win the 2004–05 Powergen Cup, where he started in the final. In June 2005 Hooper was called up for England Saxons against France and was part of their Churchill Cup success in Canada. Hooper captained the 2009 Saxons side in the Churchil ...
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Harlequin F
Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally believed to have been introduced by Zan Ganassa in the late 16th century, was definitively popularized by the Italian actor Tristano Martinelli in Paris in 1584–1585, and became a stock character after Martinelli's death in 1630. The Harlequin is characterized by his checkered costume. His role is that of a light-hearted, nimble, and astute servant, often acting to thwart the plans of his master, and pursuing his own love interest, Columbina, with wit and resourcefulness, often competing with the sterner and melancholic Pierrot. He later develops into a prototype of the romantic hero. Harlequin inherits his physical agility and his trickster qualities, as well as his name, from a mischievous "devil" character in medieval passion plays. ...
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London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Roman Empire, Romans as ''Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city#National capitals, Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national Government of the United Kingdom, government and Parliament of the United Kingdom, parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the Counties of England, counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London ...
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Worcester Warriors
Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top division of domestic rugby. Founded in 1871, in 1975 they moved to their most recent home, Sixways Stadium, located to the north of the city. The team colours are gold and blue. Placed in the eighth tier of English rugby with the advent of the English rugby union league competition, the club were able to build a strong team due to extensive financial support from their backer and chairman Cecil Duckworth, being promoted repeatedly through the league system. Worcester were first promoted to the highest tier, the Premiership in 2004, and returned there on two occasions following relegation to the RFU Championship. Worcester won one major trophy, the 2022 Premiership Cup, and won the second division three times in 2004, 2011 and 2015. They also won four ...
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Sale Sharks
Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the nickname Sharks in 1999. Since 2012 they have played their home games at the A.J. Bell Stadium in Barton-upon-Irwell, Salford. Between 1905 and 2003 they played at Heywood Road in Sale, before moving to Edgeley Park in Stockport where they stayed until 2012. Their traditional colours are blue and white. Sale have won four major trophies. They were Premiership Rugby Champions in 2005–06, won the European Rugby Challenge Cup in 2001–02, 2004–05 and the Premiership Rugby Cup in 2019/20. They also won the RFU Championship in 1994. In the 2021–22 Premiership Rugby season Sale finished sixth, which entitled them to compete in the 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup. The Director of Rugby is Alex Sanderson who was appointed ...
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Northampton Saints
Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", which gave them the nickname ''Saints'' from the 1880s. The team play their home games at Franklin's Gardens, in the west of the town, which has a capacity of 15,250 and play in black, green, and gold colours. At the conclusion of the 2021–22 Premiership Rugby season, Saints finished 4th which entitled them to compete in the 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup. The current director of rugby is Phil Dowson, who was promoted to director of rugby in the summer of 2022. Northampton has won six major titles. They were European Champions in 2000 Heineken Cup Final, 2000 and English Champions in 2013–14 Premiership Rugby#Final, 2014. They have also won the secondary European Rugby Challenge Cup twice, in 2008–09 European Challenge Cup, ...
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Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home matches at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in the south of the city. The club has been known by the nickname Tigers since at least 1885. In the 2020-21 Premiership Rugby season Tigers finished 6th, this entitled them to compete in the 2021–22 European Rugby Champions Cup. The current head coach is Richard Wigglesworth, who was appointed as interim head coach in December 2022. Leicester have won 21 major titles. They were European Champions twice, back-to-back in 2001 and 2002; have won a record 11 English Championships, and have won eight Anglo-Welsh Cups, most recently in 2017. Leicester last won the Premiership Rugby title in the 2022 season, and appeared in a record nine successive Premiership finals, from 2005 to 2013. Leices ...
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Newcastle Falcons
Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Club and briefly assumed their name until 1887. In 1990, the name was changed to Newcastle Gosforth and the club began to play at Kingston Park stadium in Kingston Park, Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1996, following the start of professionalism the club briefly adopted the name Newcastle Rugby Club before adopting its current name. Newcastle has won 5 major titles. They won the Premiership in 1998 and four domestic cups in 1976, 1977, 2001 and 2004. Newcastle was the only English club of Jonny Wilkinson, where he played from 1997 to 2009, and as well as Wilkinson in 2003 Newcastle saw three players in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final with Mathew Tait starting and Toby Flood appearing from the bench. Mark Wilson played in the 2019 Rugby W ...
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Behind Closed Doors (sport)
The term "behind closed doors" is used in several sports, to describe matches played where spectators are not allowed in the stadium to watch. The reasons for this may include punishment for a team found guilty of a certain act in the past, stadium safety problems, public health concerns, or to prevent potentially dangerous clashes between rival supporters. In football, it is predicated by articles 7, 12 and 24 of FIFA's disciplinary code. Crowdless games are a rare occurrence in professional sports. When they do occur, it is usually the result of events beyond the control of the teams or fans, such as weather-related concerns, public health concerns, or wider civil disturbances unrelated to the game. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic caused most sports leagues around the world to be played behind closed doors. Examples Brazil In Brazil, the practice of games without public access is known as "closed gates" (in Portuguese, ''portões fechados''), even referred as such in the ...
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COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified in an outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. Attempts to contain it there failed, allowing the virus to spread to other areas of Asia and later worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020, and a pandemic on 11 March 2020. As of , the pandemic had caused more than cases and confirmed deaths, making it one of the deadliest in history. COVID-19 symptoms range from undetectable to deadly, but most commonly include fever, dry cough, and fatigue. Severe illness is more likely in elderly patients and those with certain underlying medical conditions. COVID-19 transmits when people breathe in air contaminated by droplets ...
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