The División de Honor de Rugby is Spain's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The División de Honor de Rugby Championship is organised by the Federación Española de Rugby (

Spanish Rugby Federation The Spanish Rugby Federation ( es, Federación Española de Rugby) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Spain. The Spanish Rugby Federation was founded in 1923, and joined the International Rugby Football Board, later known as th ...

) and currently consists of 12 teams. The last-placed team in the competition is relegated at the end of the season to the División de Honor B, Spain`s second level of men's rugby union. The team finishing 11th enters a relegation/promotion playoff with the runner-up from the Division de Honor B playoffs.

Format

The División de Honor season takes place between September and May, with every team playing each other home and away for a total of 22 matches. Points are awarded according to the following: *4 points for a win *2 points for a draw *1 bonus point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match *1 bonus point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer The six teams with the highest number of points at the end of 22 rounds of matches play the championship playoffs. The top two teams win a semi-final berth automatically, while the next four teams participate in semi-final play-off to take the remaining two spots.

Promotion and relegation

The bottom team in the standings is relegated to the División de Honor B, while the team finishing 11th plays in the promotion/relegation playoff against a team from the second tier of rugby union in Spain. The top team from the División de Honor B is promoted to the División de Honor.

History

The Spanish Rugby Championship (now the Copa del Rey) was created in 1926, and was the only national rugby competition for decades. A national league was not considered until the 1950s, with the first season being 1952-53. Four teams competed: two from Catalonia and two from Castille. FC Barcelona won the league that year and retained the title the following season, but the league folded. There were various attempts to relaunch it, but none bore fruit until the 1969-70 season, when the National Rugby League was created. Six clubs competed in the first division, which was increased to eight in 1970-71 and then ten in 1972-73. For the 1978-79 season, the league was restructured into four regional groups of eight teams. The top team from each region were crowned champions. From the 1979-1980 season, the four regional champions progressed to a final stage, named the Superliga. This format was maintained until the 1982-1983 season, when a national division of eight teams was created.

Performance by season

The following scrollable table shows the teams' final league positions in each season. The playoff champions - not necessarily the team finishing first in the league - are highlighted in gold, except in 1979 when the championship was shared. For the years 1979-1982, all participating teams are denoted with an X.

Past winners

Titles by team

External links

Official website
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