The 2022 Rugby Football League Championship is a rugby league football competition played in England. It is the second tier of the three tiers of professional rugby league in England, below
Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
, and above
League 1. The sponsors for the league are the bookmakers,
Betfred and the league will continue to be known as the Betfred Championship.
Rule changes
The RFL approved three rules changes for 2022. On 20 January 2022, The
RFL
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...
confirmed that
scrums will return to all competitions, having been suspended as part of the game's COVID-19 response in 2020 and 2021. Scrums are only being reintroduced for errors (
knock-on,
forward pass or accidental
offside) in the first four tackles of a
set. Other cases, where previously a scrum would have been awarded, for example -
ball into touch on the full, ball kicked or passed into
touch, incorrect
play the ball
Like most forms of modern football, rugby league football is played outdoors on a rectangular grass field with goals at each end that are to be attacked and defended by two opposing teams. The rules of rugby league have changed significantly ov ...
; will result in a
handover.
The
ball steal law will revert to the 2020 rule where the ball can only be stolen in a one-on-one tackle and not during a multi-person tackle where the additional tacklers have peeled off the tackle before the steal. Finally, injured players will be required to leave the pitch for treatment, if possible, following complaints that stoppages for injury spoil the speed and flow of the game.
Teams
The league comprises 14 teams. The regular season comprises 27 rounds, each teams will play each of the others twice (home and away) with the 21st round, the
Summer Bash
The Summer Bash is an annual event organised by the Rugby Football League. An entire round of Championship matches are played in a city to showcase the sport of rugby league. It has been held at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool since 2015.
Concept ...
, seeing seven additional fixtures between the 14 teams played at the same venue.
Fixtures and results
Regular season table
Broadcasting
The rights to show matches from the Championship was until November 2020 held by
Sky TV but the RFL negotiated a new deal with Sky which removed Championship games from the existing contract, and instead the RFL signed a new deal with
Premier Sports. This deal will result in one match from each round being broadcast live on a Monday evening.
References
{{2022 in rugby league
Rugby Football League Championship
2022 in English rugby league