The 2020–21 Gallagher Premiership was the 34th 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 third one to be sponsored by

Gallagher Gallagher may refer to: Places United States * Gallagher Township, Pennsylvania * Gallagher, West Virginia, an unincorporated place People * Gallagher (comedian) (1946–2022), American stand-up comedian * Gallagher (surname) Fictional characte ...

. The reigning champions entering the season were

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

, who had claimed their second title after defeating

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

in the 2020 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 2019–20 RFU Championship at the first attempt. The competition was broadcast 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 ...

for the eighth 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 for the final time, with extended highlights on BT Sport.

Summary

Harlequins won their second title after defeating

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 fourth in the regular season table. No team was relegated this season after a moratorium was agreed. Due to changes to the global rugby calendar implemented this year and the

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 identif ...

prolonging the

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 fif ...

season, this edition featured a later start and later finish and would take place over a reduced timeframe of 32 weeks. The season also featured a two-week break in January due to the suspension of both of the

European Professional Club Rugby European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) is the governing body and organiser of the two major European rugby union club tournaments: the European Rugby Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup. A third tournament, the European Rugby Chal ...

competitions.

Rule changes

New regulations were introduced this season for games cancelled as a result of the pandemic or otherwise. A brief outline of the new regulations are: * All fixtures will be treated equally. * No round 1 - 22 fixtures will be postponed unless within the same weekend. When cancellation is as a result of COVID-19 points will be awarded as follows. * 2 points awarded to the team responsible for cancellation. * 4 points will be awarded to the team who wasn't responsible. * The match result will be deemed to be 0–0 There are also changes to the regulations allowing the Testing Oversight Group to cancel matches. Regulations for the semi-finals and final will be published later in the year. This season also includes a moratorium on relegation due to the effects of the pandemic. This season is the last under the current regulations before changes are made next season and again before 2024–25.

Teams

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

who were promoted from the 2019–20 RFU Championship after a top flight absence of one year. They replaced

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 ...

who were relegated after twenty five years in the top flight following two large points deductions during the season.

Stadiums and locations

Table

Fixtures

Fixtures for the season were announced by Premiership Rugby on 29 September 2020 - this was delayed from July due to the previous season being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. 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 ...

no longer features after being discontinued in 2018.

League Season

The league season began on 20 November 2020.

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

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 26 June 2021.

Bracket

Semi-finals

Final

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Touch judges:

Luke Pearce Luke Pearce (born 13 November 1987) is a British rugby union referee representing the Rugby Football Union. He is a regular referee in the English Premiership and has refereed games at European level and at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Refereeing ...

Karl Dickson
Television Match Official:
Ian Tempest

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

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AJ MacGinty Alan "AJ" MacGinty is an Irish-born professional rugby player, who represents the United States in international competition. He primarily plays as a fly-half. MacGinty plays club rugby for Premiership Rugby team Bristol Bears. Early life A gra ...

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Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

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Paddy Jackson David Patrick Lindsay James "Paddy" Jackson (born 5 January 1992) is a professional rugby union player from Northern Ireland who plays for Gallagher Premiership side London Irish. He primarily plays at fly-half and previously played for Irish p ...

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London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

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Rhys Priestland Rhys Priestland (born 9 January 1987) is a Welsh international rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Cardiff Rugby and the Wales national team. Although he primarily plays as a fly-half, he is also capable of playing at full-back. Born ...

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Billy Twelvetrees William Wesley Twelvetrees (born 15 November 1988) is a rugby union footballer who currently plays centre or fly-half for Gloucester Rugby and formerly played as inside centre for the England national rugby team. Whilst playing for the Leic ...

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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 ...

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Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

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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; ...

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Most tries

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Danny Care Daniel Stuart Care (born 2 January 1987) is an English rugby union player who plays for Harlequins in the Premiership as a scrum-half. He has played for England national team since 2008 and has won 87 caps. He previously played for England ...

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Alex Dombrandt Alex Joseph Dombrandt (born 29 April 1997) is an English professional rugby union player for Harlequins in Premiership Rugby. His primary position is Number 8. Early years and education Dombrandt began playing rugby at the age of six for War ...

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Byron McGuigan Byron McGuigan (born 20 August 1989) is a rugby union outside centre or wing for Scotland in international rugby and for Sale Sharks in the English Premiership. He was born in Walvis Bay – then a South African exclave, but part of modern-da ...

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Curtis Rona Curtis Rona (born 26 May 1992) is a former Australian international rugby union footballer who recently played for London Irish in the English Premiership. He now plays for Mitsubishi Heavy Industry Sagamihara Dynaboars. He has previously pla ...

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Will Muir Will Muir (born 30 October 1995) is an English rugby union player who plays for Bath in the Premiership Rugby. Early life Muir holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Northumbria , mottoeng = A lifet ...

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Paolo Odogwu Paolo Odogwu (born 18 February 1997) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a winger for Benetton Rugby in the United Rugby Championship. Rugby career After playing many positions at age grade level for King Edward's School Birmin ...

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, - , align=left, Ollie Sleightholme, , align=left,

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Marland Yarde Marland Yarde (born 20 April 1992) is an English rugby union wing who currently plays for Bayonne. He has previously played for London Irish, Harlequins and Sale Sharks. At international level Yarde won 13 caps for England between 2013 and ...

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Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

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George McGuigan George Patrick McGuigan (born 30 March 1993) is an England, English rugby union player who plays for Gloucester Rugby, Gloucester in Premiership Rugby. His position is Hooker (rugby union), Hooker and has represented England Saxons as well as Ire ...

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Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

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Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Premiership Rugby, 2020-21 2020-21

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 ...

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 ...