The 2013–14 Aviva Premiership was the 27th season of the

top flight Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age. Background Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...

English domestic

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 ...

competition and the fourth one to be sponsored by Aviva. The reigning champions entering the season were

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 hom ...

, who had claimed their tenth title after defeating

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", ...

in the 2013 final.

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 Cl ...

had been promoted as champions from the

2012–13 RFU Championship The 2012–13 RFU Championship is the fourth season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, the second tier of English domestic rugby union competitions, played between August 2012 and May 2013. After an appeal, last seasons ch ...

at the first attempt. This season was also the first season to be broadcast exclusively by

BT Sport BT Sport is a group of broadcasting of sports events, pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, Warner Bros. Dis ...

Summary

won their first title after defeating

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

in the final at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

after having finished second in the regular season table.

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in Administration (law), administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top ...

were relegated after being unable to win their penultimate game of the season. It was the second time that Worcester have been relegated from the top flight since the leagues began and the first time since the 2009–10 Premiership Rugby season. As usual, round 1 included the

London Double Header The London Double Header ran between 2004 and 2017 and typically opened the season of Premiership Rugby (currently known as the Gallagher Premiership due to sponsorship), the top rugby union league in England. Two games were played consecutively a ...

, the tenth instance since its inception in 2004.

Teams

Twelve teams compete in the league – the top eleven teams from the previous season and

who were promoted from the

after a top flight absence of one year. They replaced

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, ...

who were relegated after one year in the top flight.

Stadiums and locations

Pre-Season

The 2013 edition of the

Premiership Rugby Sevens Series The Premiership Rugby Sevens Series is a friendly Rugby Sevens competition for the twelve Premiership Rugby clubs that will play the following season (i.e. the 2010 competition features the teams playing in the Aviva Premiership in the 2010� ...

began on 1 August 2013 at Kingsholm, continued on 2 August 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 ...

and 3 August at Allianz Park. The finals was on 9 August 2013 at The Recreation Ground. This was the first opportunity of the season for any of the teams competing in the Premiership to win a trophy. Gloucester 7s won the Series Final, beating Leicester Tigers 7s 24 – 17 and with it qualification to the inaugural World Club 7s at

Table

Regular season

Premiership Rugby announced the fixture list on 4 July 2013. As with previous seasons, Round 1 included the

. Fixtures as per Premiership Rugb
Match Centre

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

* This result meant that Saracens would finish in the top four and therefore a place in the playoffs.

Round 19

Round 20

* This result meant that Northampton would finish in the top four and therefore a place in the playoffs.

Round 21

Round 22

All games in Round 22 kicked off at 15:15 on 10 May 2014, so as to not give any team a potential advantage with regards to knowing how to achieve a play-off berth, European Rugby Champions Cup place, or safety from relegation.

Play-offs

As in previous seasons, the top four teams in the Premiership table, following the conclusion of the regular season, contest the play-off semi-finals in a 1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd format, with the higher ranking team having home advantage. The two winners of the semi-finals then meet in the Premiership Final at

on 31 May 2014.

Bracket

Semi-Finals

Final

The final was contested at Twickenham between the winners of the two semi-finals. For the first time, the final went to extra time as the teams finished the regulation 80 minutes at 14 all.

Leading scorers

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Most points

Source:

Most tries

Source:

Season attendances

By club

Retirements

* 7 October 2013

Andrew Higgins Andrew Jackson Higgins (28 August 1886 – 1 August 1952) was an American businessman and boatbuilder who founded Higgins Industries, the New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans-based manufacturer of "LCVP (United States), Higgins boats" (Landing ...

(Newcastle Falcons) retired, aged 32, due to a knee injury. * 9 October 2013

Olly Morgan Oliver Morgan (born 3 November 1985 in London) is a former English rugby union player who played at fullback for Gloucester Rugby and England. Club career 2004–05 Morgan made 2 appearances for Gloucester during his debut season. His first ...

(Gloucester) retired, aged 27, due to knee injuries. * 18 December 2013 Brett Deacon (Leicester Tigers) retired, aged 31, due to contracting

lupus Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Comm ...

Notes

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Premiership 2013-14

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 ...