The WRU National Championship (or Admiral Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second tier of professional

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 ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. The league was reformed by the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running ...

(WRU) in 2012. The current National Championship champions are

Pontypool RFC Pontypool Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in the town of Pontypool, which plays in the WRU Championship (known as the SWALEC Championship for sponsorship purposes). Due to the regionalisation of Welsh rugby in 2003, Pontyp ...

, who won consecutive titles in 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19.

History

In 2012, the new division was formed from the restructuring of the

Welsh Premier Division The Welsh Premier Division, () known for sponsorship reasons as the Indigo Group Premiership, (''Uwch Gynghrair grŵp indigo'') is a rugby union league in Wales first implemented by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for the 1990–91 season. Compe ...

. The Premier Division was 'slimmed down' to 12 teams with

and

Tonmawr RFC Tonmawr are a Welsh rugby union club based in Tonmawr, Neath Port Talbot in South Wales. Tonmawr are a feeder club to the Ospreys regional team. Tonmawr have a tradition of producing players who go onto represent the Ospreys region - these play ...

relegated from the division. Tonmawr had already made the decision to opt out of the new league and would start the 2012–13 season in Division Six. The National Championship is the second tier, which lies below the first tier

in Welsh club rugby. Above Welsh club rugby sides are the four regions, the Scarlets, Ospreys, Cardiff Blues, and Dragons, as part of regional rugby, who instead compete in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

Restructuring process

The teams for the league would be decided on three factors. Firstly, the holding of an 'A Licence' based on stadium criteria. The signing of a 'Participation Agreement' and judged on league results over the previous six seasons. It was originally decided that the Premiership would reduce in size to ten teams. It was announced that four clubs, Pontypool, Tonmwar,

Bridgend Ravens Bridgend Ravens ( cy, Cigfrain Pen-y-bont) (formerly Bridgend RFC) are a semi-professional rugby union club based in Bridgend, South Wales. They currently play in the Welsh Premier Division and are a feeder club to the Ospreys regional team ...

and

Carmarthen Quins RFC Carmarthen Quins Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cwins Caerfyrddin) are one of two Welsh rugby union clubs based in Carmarthen in West Wales, the other being Carmarthen Athletic. They currently play in the Welsh Premier Division and are a ...

had not achieved the required criteria to be included into the new league. However, pressure from Ospreys and

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

backers led to the league being extended to 12 teams with Bridgend and Carmarthen included. Tonmawr, citing financial reasons, opted not to take part in the new league at all and re-entered themselves into Division Six.

2012 Pontypool legal challenge

The new league came under scrutiny in 2012 when

launched a legal challenge to avoid being the only club relegated to the new division, which they ultimately lost on the grounds of 'meritocracy'. Pontypool had finished 12th in the previous campaign, above rivals

Bedwas RFC Bedwas RFC ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Bedwas) is a rugby union club located in the Welsh village of Bedwas. Bedwas has two senior teams, their 1st XV competing in the Welsh Championship and their development side, the Bedwas Barbarians. The club is a member ...

and level on points with historic rivals

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Casnewydd) is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on t ...

2018–19 season

''Correct as of 26 February 2019''

2017–18 season

''"r" denotes relegation to the WRU Division One East or WRU Division One West''

History

Restructuring process

2012 Pontypool legal challenge

2018–19 season

2017–18 season

2016–17 season

2015–16 season

2014–15 season

Winners

References

External links