The 2020–21 RFU Championship, also known as the 2020–21 Greene King IPA Championship for sponsorship reasons, was the twelfth season of the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

, the professional second tier of rugby union in England. It featured ten English teams and one from

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

. The competition was sponsored by

Greene King Greene King is a large pub retailer and brewer. It is based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The company owns pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by CK Assets in October 2019. ...

for the eighth successive season. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...

, this season featured a truncated timeframe of just 16 weeks with a later start and fewer rounds.

Structure

In a change from previous years, the eleven teams played each of the other teams once only, either home or away, to produce a ten-round season. The top two teams played each other in a two-legged play-off, with the winner promoted to the Premiership, if eligible. Due to the cancellation of the

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

, there was no relegation. The season began on 6 March 2021, and the final round of matches were played in May 2021. Each team received one

bye week In sport, a bye is the preferential status of a player or team that is automatically advanced to the next round of a tournament, without having to play an opponent in an early round. In Tournament#Knockout, knockout (elimination) tournaments the ...

, and there were three reserve weekends during the season.

RFU funding change

Each club received approximately £375,000 in funding from the RFU in a phased return to the level of funding provided prior to 2016–17 season. Following news of the funding change, several clubs announced their intention to switch to a semi-professional business model.

Teams

Nine of the eleven teams played in last season's competition.

Yorkshire Carnegie Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 1. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when it j ...

, later renamed Leeds Tykes, were relegated to National League 1 after finishing bottom of the 2019–20 RFU Championship. They were 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 were promoted from

2019–20 National League 1 The 2019–20 National League 1, known for sponsorship reasons as the SSE National League 1, was the 11th season of the National League 1, third tier of the English rugby union system, since the professionalised format of the second tier RFU Champ ...

after just one year away from the Championship.

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 ...

were promoted back to Premiership Rugby at the first attempt. They were replaced in the RFU Championship by

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 finishing bottom of 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 ...

table. On 2 February 2021,

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population estimate of 8,100 (Mid year estimate 2017 from the ONS). It is administered bAmpthill Town Council The ward of Ampthill which also i ...

announced that due to funding cuts and the costs associated with 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 ...

, they might not be able to take part in the season. However, after a large donation, they were able to participate. London Scottish did not participate due to the costs associated with the pandemic.

Pre-season competition

Ahead of the season,

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

and

participated in the Trailfinders Challenge Cup, as a pre-season warm-up. It took place between the 16 January and 20 February as a round-robin tournament where teams played each other home and away. Ealing Trailfinders won the competition with one game remaining, they received a trophy and £20,000.

Table

Fixtures

Table

Fixtures & Results

Fixtures for the season were announced by the RFU on 8 February 2021. Jersey Reds played only 3 games at home, having switched with their opponents for their rounds 3 and 5 games based on travel concerns.

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

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Round 4

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Round 5

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Round 6

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Round 7

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Round 8

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Round 9

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Round 10

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Round 11

Final

The top two teams took part in a two-legged final to determine the champion. The top ranked team at the end of the league season chose which leg they play at home. The matches were played on 13 and 20 June 2021. Subject to meeting the minimum criteria, the champion would be promoted to

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 ...

. On 22 May, both

Ealing Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the current champions of the RFU Championship but will remain in that league due to ineligibility for promotion to Premi ...

and

qualified for the final. The final was confirmed on 3 June, with Ealing Trailfinders playing the first leg at home. In June 2021, it was confirmed that only Saracens were eligible for promotion, as Ealing Trailfinders did not meet an RFU deadline, despite having a groundshare in place. Trailfinders intended to appeal the decision, as they claim they were not given adequate information from the league. With an aggregate score of 117–15, Saracens won the final to take their first second-tier title since 1995 and earn promotion to the Premiership.

First Leg

Second Leg

Leading scorers

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

Most points

Source:

Most tries

Source:

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 RFU Championship RFU Championship seasons