The 2022–23 RFU Championship is the fourteenth 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 features eleven 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 ...
.
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 ...
are the reigning champions.
Structure
The twelve teams will play each of the other teams twice.
The results of the matches contribute points to the league as follows:
* 4 points are awarded for a win
* 2 points are awarded for a draw
* 0 points are awarded for a loss, however
* 1 losing (bonus) point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer
* 1 additional (bonus) point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match.
Promotion and relegation
Subject to meeting the minimum standards criteria the team finishing top of the league will 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 ...
, which means there will be no relegation to
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 ...
. If the champions do not meet the criteria, and therefore not promoted, one team will be relegated. With both
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. ...
and
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 ...
entering
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
and possible relegation to the championship, the number of teams in next seasons competition is uncertain and could consist of 12, 13 or 14 teams.
On 13 February 2023, the RFU confirmed that only Doncaster Knights were eligible for promotion.
RFU funding
For the third year in a row, each club will receive approximately £161,500 in funding from the
RFU
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the 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 (WR) in 1886. It pro ...
, as part of the reduction of funding introduced ahead of the 2016–17 season.
Following news of the funding change, several clubs announced a switch to a
semi-professional
Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...
business model ahead of the 2020–21 season.
Teams
Eleven of the twelve teams played in last season's competition. Having won the
2021–22 National League 1,
Caldy
Caldy is a small, affluent village on the Wirral Peninsula, England, south-east of West Kirby. It is part of the West Kirby & Thurstaston Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and is in the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. At the ...
were promoted to the Championship. Owing to there being only eleven teams in the Championship last season there was no relegation.
Table
Fixtures & results
Fixtures for the season was announced by the RFU on 24 June 2022.
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
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Rescheduled matches (Round 10)
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Round 12
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Round 13
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Round 14
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Round 15
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Round 16
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Round 17
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Round 18
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Round 19
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2022-23 RFU Championship
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RFU Championship seasons
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