The 2011

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada, England, the United States, and other invited teams (originally one and later three) from a wide arr ...

, the ninth and final edition of an annual international

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 ...

tournament, took place in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up Ar ...

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 ...

and

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

. This was just the second time in the tournament's history in which England played host.

Competitors

The three regular participants in the event — the senior national sides of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and England's "A" (second-level) national side, the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

, were joined by second year participants

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and two first-time competitors: Italy A and

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. England Saxons fielded a very young, promising team, while Italy A picked a very experienced side, with many of the regulars for the main national team.

Format

The teams played in a round-robin format between two pools to decide the elimination matches. All six teams participate on the finals day: the two pool winners will compete in the Cup Final, the two runners-up will play in a Plate Final, and the two bottom-placed teams will meet in the Bowl Final.

Venues

The pool rounds were played at

Franklin's Gardens Franklin's Gardens (currently known for sponsorship purposes as cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens) is a purpose-built rugby stadium in Northampton, England. It is the home stadium of Northampton Saints. The stadium holds 15,249 people. The fou ...

Molesey Road Molesey Road is a rugby union stadium in Hersham, Surrey, that is home to Esher RFC. The stadium contains a 1,200 seater main stand to the west of the pitch and a clubhouse in the south-east corner. The grounds also contain two practice pitches ...

and

Kingsholm Stadium Kingsholm Stadium is a rugby union stadium located in the Kingsholm area of Gloucester, England, and is the home stadium of Gloucester Rugby. The stadium has a capacity of 16,115. It is sometimes nicknamed 'Castle Grim', after the estate where ...

. The finals were played at

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 ...

Fixtures and results

Pool stage

Pool A

Touch judges:
Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts
Andrew Watson
Television match official:
David Matthews * This was the highest margin of win of any

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

national team over the

. ---- Touch judges:
Luke Pearce
Stuart Terheege
Television match official:
Geoff Warren ----

Pool B

Touch judges:
Andrew Small
Ian Tempest
Television match official:
David Matthews ---- Touch judges:
David Rose
Roy Maybank
Television match official:
Geoff Warren ----

Finals

Bowl final

Plate final

Cup final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Churchill

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2011 rugby union tournaments for national teams International rugby union competitions hosted by England 2010–11 in English rugby union 2010–11 in Italian rugby union 2011 in American rugby union 2011 in Canadian rugby union 2011 in Tongan rugby union 2011 in Russian rugby union