The 2009–10 LV Cup (styled as the LV= Cup) was the 39th season of England's national
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
cup competition, and the fifth to follow the
Anglo-Welsh
Welsh writing in English ( Welsh: ''Llenyddiaeth Gymreig yn Saesneg''), (previously Anglo-Welsh literature) is a term used to describe works written in the English language by Welsh writers.
The term ‘Anglo-Welsh’ replaced an earlier atte ...
format.
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", ...
were crowned champions after beating
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
in the final at
Worcester's Sixways Stadium
Sixways Stadium is a stadium in Worcester, England. It is currently used for rugby union and association football matches and is the home stadium of Premier 15s side Worcester Warriors Women, University of Worcester Warriors and football side ...
.
The structure of the competition was altered from previous years. The competition continued to consist of the four Welsh
Celtic League
The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...
teams and the twelve
Guinness Premiership
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 ...
clubs, arranged into pools consisting of three English teams and one Welsh. However, the new format saw teams guaranteed two home and two away pool matches, with teams in Pools 1 and 4 playing each other and teams in Pools 2 and 3 playing each other. The competition took place on international fixture dates during the Autumn Internationals and Six Nations, with the aim of allowing teams to develop their squad players.
On 29 October 2009, little more than a week before the start of this season's competition, British insurer
LV was unveiled as the new sponsor.
Pool stages
Points system
The points scoring system for the pool stages were as follows:
*4 points for a win
*2 points for a draw
*1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match (TB)
*1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less (LB)
The ranking criteria were:
* If two or more clubs in the same pool end the pool stage equal on match points, then the order in which they have finished will be determined by:
**i. the greater number of matches won by the club and
**ii. if the number of matches won is equal, the club with the greater total number of tries scored and
**iii. if the total number of tries scored is equal, the club with the greater points difference (points scored for, less points scored against) and
**iv. if the points difference is equal, the club with the fewer number of red cards and
**v. if the number of red cards is the same, by the toss a coin.
Pool 1 v Pool 4
Round 1
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Round 2
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Round 3
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Round 4
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Pool 2 v Pool 3
Round 1
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Round 2
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Round 3
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Round 4
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Knockout stage
Qualification criteria
The top teams from each pool qualify for the knockout stages. The pool winners will be decided by the following criteria:
:1. The pool winner will be the club with the highest number of match points in each pool. The pool winners will be ranked 1 to 4 by reference to the number of match points earned in the pools.
:2. If two or more clubs in the same pool end the pool stage equal on match points, then the order in which they have finished will be determined by:
::i. the greater number of matches won by the club and
::ii. if the number of matches won is equal, the club with the greater total number of tries scored and
::iii. if the total number of tries scored is equal, the club with the greater points difference (points scored for, less points scored against) and
::iv. if the points difference is equal, the club with the fewer number of red cards and
::v. if the number of red cards is the same, by the toss a coin.
Each of the four qualifying clubs shall be ranked as above and shall play each other as follows:
:Semi-final 1 - 1st ranked club v 4th ranked club
:Semi-final 2 - 2nd ranked club v 3rd ranked club
The first club listed in each of the semi-final matches shall be the home club.
Semi-finals
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Final
See also
*
2009–10 English Premiership (rugby union)
*
2009–10 Celtic League
External links
Official websiteAnglo Welsh Cup on Premiership Rugby website*
Tables*
Fixtures and resultsAnglo Welsh Cup website
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lv Cup
2009–10 in Welsh rugby union
2009–10 English Premiership (rugby union)
2009-10
2009–10 rugby union tournaments for clubs