The 2016–17 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, is the eighth season of the professionalised format of the
RFU Championship, the second tier of the
English rugby union league system run by the
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...
. It is contested by eleven English clubs and one from
Jersey in the
Channel Islands. This will be the fourth year of the competition's sponsorship with
Greene King Brewery.
The twelve teams in the RFU Championship also compete in the
British and Irish Cup
The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009 ...
, along with clubs from
Ireland and
Wales. Some matches in the RFU Championship are broadcast on
Sky Sports.
On 24 January 2017 London Welsh were expelled from the championship after failing to meet the conditions required by the RFU to extend a temporary licence granted after their liquidation. The club's record for the season was expunged. The RFU announced that no team would be relegated from the Championship at the end of the season.
Structure
The Championship's structure has all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis. The play-off structure will remain the same as the previous year.
The top four teams at the end of the home-and-away season qualify for the promotion play-offs which follow a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system. The winners have to meet the RFU's Minimum Standards Criteria in order to be promoted to the
English Premiership. There is no promotion if a ground fails to meet the criteria. Unlike previous seasons there will be no relegation from the league this year.
In 2015 the RFU increased annual funding to over £500,000 per club, an agreement which will last until 2020. Despite this,
Cornish Pirates stated more money was needed in RFU grants to support a fully professional second tier.
The 2016–17 season was also the last for play-offs in the Championship for three seasons. Starting with the 2017–18 season, the play-offs will be replaced by automatic promotion for the team that finishes first in the home-and-away season, provided said team meets the Minimum Standards Criteria.
Teams
After ten seasons in the Championship
Birmingham Moseley were relegated following their last place finish
in 2016. They are replaced by
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
, who won the
National League 1 and return to the second tier for the first time since 1997.
Richmond subsequently entered administration and dropped eight tiers following two seasons in the premiership between
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
and
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
.
As a result, Richmond stated that they would remain semi-professional and not sign any professional players despite the RFU Championship being fully professional.
, an original founder of the professional English Premiership, join the league after relegation from the
2015–16 Aviva Premiership, finishing bottom of the table.
On 7 December 2016
London Welsh RFC
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, ...
went into liquidation. They were deducted 20 points but allowed to continue in the Championship until January when the RFU would decide on their future.
On 24 January 2017 London Welsh were expelled from the championship after failing to meet the conditions required by the RFU to extend the temporary licence. The club's record for the season was
expunged and there would be no relegation from the Championship at the end of season.
[
;Notes
]
Table
Fixtures
Fixtures for the season were announced by the RFU on 8 July 2016.
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
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Round 22
Play-offs
Semi-finals
The semi-finals follow a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system – with the games being played over two-legs and the higher placed team choosing which leg they play at home. The matches are due to be played on 28/30 April 2017 and 5/6 May 2017.
First leg
Second leg
* Yorkshire Carnegie won 52 – 36 on aggregate
Final
The final is played over two legs – with the higher placed team deciding which leg they play at home.
First leg
Second leg
* London Irish won 84 – 66 on aggregate and are promoted to the Premiership
Attendances
*Includes playoff games.
Individual statistics
* Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Appearance figures also include coming on as substitutes (unused substitutes not included). Stats also cover playoff games.
Top points scorers
Top try scorers
Season records
* Updated to 17 May 2017
Team
;Largest home win — 79 pts
82 – 3 London Irish at home to Rotherham Titans on 8 April 2017
;Largest away win — 50 pts
62 – 12 London Irish away to London Scottish on 30 October 2016
;Most points scored — 82 pts
82 – 3 London Irish at home to Rotherham Titans on 8 April 2017
;Most tries in a match — 12
London Irish at home to Rotherham Titans on 8 April 2017
;Most conversions in a match — 11
London Irish at home to Rotherham Titans on 8 April 2017
;Most penalties in a match — 7
London Scottish at home to Ealing Trailfinders on 2 December 2016
;Most drop goals in a match — 1
N/A - multiple teams
Player
;Most points in a match — 32
Tommy Bell for London Irish away to London Scottish on 30 October 2016
;Most tries in a match — 3 (x9)
Tyson Lewis
Tyson is a male given name of old French origin meaning 'high-spirited', 'fire'. It is from this that a surname arose 'son of Tyson'.
Surname
*Alan Tyson (1926–2000), British musicologist
* Barbara Tyson (born 1964), Canadian actress
* Bill Tys ...
for Doncaster Knights away to Richmond on 17 September 2016
Patrick Tapley for Bedford Blues at home to Richmond on 1 October 2016
Jason Harries for London Scottish away to Doncaster Knights on 5 November 2016
TJ Harris for Nottingham at home to Yorkshire Carnegie on 26 December 2016
Ben West
Raphael Benjamin West (March 31, 1911 – November 20, 1974) was an American attorney and politician who served as
mayor of Nashville from 1951 to 1963, and as a Tennessee state senator from 1949 to 1951. While a state senator, he supported a ...
for Yorkshire Carnegie at home to Richmond on 26 March 2017
Ryan Burrows for Yorkshire Carnegie away to Bedford Blues on 8 April 2017
Alex Lewington
Alexander "Alex" Lewington (born 20 September 1991 in Nottingham, England) is a rugby union player who plays for Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership as a winger.
Lewington's career started with Leicester Tigers, making appearances in the LV= ...
for London Irish at home to Rotherham Titans on 8 April 2017
Tom Duncan
Tom Duncan is an American entrepreneur and business executive who is the current President and CEO of the North American division of the Positec Tool Corporation. He was previously an executive for the Vermont American Tool Company, which was a ...
for Cornish Pirates at home to Bedford Blues on 15 April 2017
James Stephenson
James Albert Stephenson (14 April 1889 – 29 July 1941) was a British stage and film actor. He found extraordinarily rapid success in Hollywood after arriving in his late 40s, but he died unexpectedly in his early 50s.
Early life
Stephenson ...
for Nottingham away to London Scottish on 15 April 2017
;Most conversions in a match — 8 (x2)
Tommy Bell for London Irish away to London Scottish on 30 October 2016
Joe Ford for Yorkshire Carnegie at home to Rotherham Titans on 5 February 2017
;Most penalties in a match — 7
Peter Lydon
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
for London Scottish at home to Ealing Trailfinders on 2 December 2016
;Most drop goals in a match — 1
N/A - multiple players
Attendances
;Highest — 11,671
London Irish at home to Cornish Pirates on 18 March 2017
;Lowest — 438
Ealing Trailfinders at home to Jersey Reds on 17 September 2016
;Highest Average Attendance — 4,110
London Irish
;Lowest Average Attendance — 914
Ealing Trailfinders
[
]
See also
* 2016–17 British and Irish Cup
The 2016–17 British and Irish Cup was the eighth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. London Welsh were the defending champions having won the 2015–16 final against Yo ...
* List of English Rugby Union stadiums by capacity
The following is a list of rugby union stadiums in England. The stadiums are organised by capacity, which is the maximum number of spectators the stadium can normally accommodate. Capacities are standard total capacity, including seats and any stan ...
References
External links
RFU Championship news
{{DEFAULTSORT:Championship
2016–17 in English rugby union leagues
2016-17
16-17 is a band from Basel, Switzerland. Their music combines punk rock, hardcore punk, jazz and industrial music.
Biography
16-17 was founded in 1983 by Alex Buess, Knut Remond and Markus Kneubühler. When the group played its first conc ...