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English Rugby Union System
Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system. Women's Rugby union in England consists of 26 leagues, which includes a national semi-professional league at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system, with the exception of the Women's Premiership. History Historically, there were no leagues allowed as these were seen as a sign of professionalism. In the 1970s the RFU allowed the creation of regional merit leagues with the most significant ones being the North, Midlands, South West and London merit leagues. In 1984 the RFU approved the creation of two national merit tables where clubs had to play a minimum of eight games against the clubs in their division. 1985 saw the creation of a third national merit league. In 1987 this was formed into a true na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rugby Union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in England in the first half of the 19th century. Rugby is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is played between two teams of 15 players each, using an Rugby ball, oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The field has H-shaped Goal (sports)#Structure, goalposts at both ends. Rugby union is a popular sport around the world, played by people regardless of gender, age or size. In 2023, there were more than 10 million people playing worldwide, of whom 8.4 million were registered players. World Rugby, previously called the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) and the International Rugby Board (IRB), has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Premiership Rugby
Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby union system. Premiership clubs qualify for Europe's two main club competitions, the European Rugby Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup. The winner of the second division, the RFU Championship, is promoted to the Premiership and until 2020, the team finishing at the bottom of the Premiership each season was relegated to the Championship. The competition is regarded as one of the three top-level professional leagues in the Northern and Western Hemispheres, along with the Top 14 in France, and the cross-border United Rugby Championship for teams from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy and South Africa. The competition has been played since 1987, and has evolved into the current Premiership system. The current champions are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rugby Union In England
Rugby union in England is one of the leading professional and recreational team sports. In 1871 the Rugby Football Union, the governing body for rugby union in England, was formed by 21 rugby clubs, and the first international match, which involved England, was played in Scotland. The England national team compete annually in the Six Nations Championship, and are former world champions after winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The top domestic men's club competition is Premiership Rugby, and English clubs also compete in international competitions such as the European Rugby Champions Cup. The top domestic women's competition is the Premier 15s. History Rugby School and foundation of early clubs Rugby in England is generally attributed to when William Webb Ellis "who with a fine disregard for the rules as played in his time, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it" in 1823 at the Rugby School, although modern scholars consider this story to be a myth. One of the earlie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National League 2 West
National League 2 West is a rugby union league at level four in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the Midlands and South West England. The remainder of England is covered by two other regional leagues; National League 2 East and National League 2 North. The champion club is promoted to National One. The last two teams are relegated to either Regional 1 Midlands or Regional 1 South West. Prior to the 2022–23 season, National League 2 West and National League 2 East were part of a unified division known as National League 2 South. Structure The league consists of fourteen teams who play the others on a home and away basis, to make a total of 26 matches each. The champions are promoted to National League 1 and the bottom two teams are relegated to either Regional 1 Midlands or Regional 1 South West depending on the location of the teams. The results of the matches contribute points to the league as follows: * 4 points ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National League 2 East
National League 2 East is a rugby union league at level four in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in London, South East England and the East of England. The remainder of England is covered by two other regional leagues; National League 2 North and National League 2 West. The champion club is promoted to National One. The last two teams are relegated to either Regional 1 South Central or Regional 1 South East. Blackheath became champions, with three matches to play, following their 93 – 17 defeat of Westcliff on 25 March 2023. Rochford Hundred (13th) and Westcliff (14th) are relegated to Regional 1 South East. Prior to the 2022–23 season, National League 2 East and National League 2 West were part of a unified division known as National League 2 South. Structure The league consists of fourteen teams who play the others on a home and away basis, to make a total of 26 matches each. The champions are promoted to National ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2020–21 RFU Championship
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 professional second tier of rugby union in England. It featured ten English teams and one from Jersey. The competition was sponsored by Greene King for the eighth successive season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, 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, 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, and there were three r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2021–22 RFU Championship
The 2021–22 RFU Championship was the thirteenth season of the RFU Championship, the professional second tier of rugby union in England. It featured ten English teams and one from Jersey. Saracens are the reigning champions and were promoted to the Premiership. Structure In a return to the structure used prior to 2020–21, the eleven teams played each of the other teams twice. There was no end of season play-off and as no team met the minimum standards criteria, no team was promoted to Premiership Rugby. For the second consecutive year no team was relegated from the league. RFU funding For the second year in a row each club will receive approximately £161,500 in funding from the RFU as part of the reduction of funding introduced ahead of the 2016–17 season. Last season, following news of the funding change, several clubs announced a switch to a semi-professional business model. Teams Ten of the eleven teams played in last season's competition. Saracens having beaten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2019–20 RFU Championship
The 2019–20 RFU Championship, known as the 2019–20 Greene King IPA Championship for sponsorship reasons, was the eleventh season of the RFU Championship, the professional second tier of rugby union in England. It featured eleven English teams and one from Jersey. The competition was sponsored by Greene King for the seventh successive season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the Rugby Football Union officially cancelled the season on 20 March 2020, after initially postponing all rugby in England including training from 17 March until 14 April 2020. As a result, Newcastle Falcons were declared champions for the season, and promoted to the Premiership on 2 April 2020 on the basis of a ''best playing record formula'', having been undefeated and top of the table when the league was suspended, while Yorkshire Carnegie were relegated to National League 1 at the bottom. Structure The team that finished first was promoted to Premiership Rugby as their ground m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2017–18 RFU Championship
The 2017–18 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, was the ninth season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, the second tier of the English rugby union league system run by the Rugby Football Union. It was contested by eleven English clubs and one from Jersey in the Channel Islands. The competition was sponsored by Greene King for a fifth successive season. The twelve teams in the RFU Championship also competed in the British and Irish Cup, along with clubs from Ireland and Wales. On 24 March 2018 Rotherham Titans were relegated with 3 games to go, after losing away to Jersey Reds. Despite seeing some improvements in the second half of the season, the Yorkshire club were easily the weakest side in the division, dropping to 2018–19 National League 1, the lowest level the club have played at for 14 seasons. On 7 April 2018 Bristol were crowned champions with 2 games to go following title rivals Ealing Trailfinde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2012–13 RFU Championship
The 2012–13 RFU Championship is the fourth season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, the second tier of English domestic rugby union competitions, played between August 2012 and May 2013. After an appeal, last season's champions, London Welsh were promoted to the Aviva Premiership and subsequently Newcastle Falcons relegated, due to finishing bottom of the Aviva Premiership during the 2011–12 season. On 8 May 2012 it was announced that only Bristol and London Welsh (subject to further developments) were eligible for promotion under the RFU's minimum standards criteria; London Welsh advanced to the Championship final, whilst Bristol were defeated in their semi-final by the Cornish Pirates, a club that could not meet the standards criteria. However, on 23 May, the day of the first leg of the final, the RFU announced that London Welsh would not be eligible for promotion due to "''various failures''". London Welsh's appeal was heard by an Independent Panel o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British And Irish Cup
The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009–10 British and Irish Cup, 2009–10 season, and ran for 9 seasons. After clubs from the English Championship decided to withdraw from the 2018–19 season, the competition was abolished. The Welsh and Irish rugby unions thereafter reinstituted the Celtic Cup (2018 rugby union tournament), Celtic Cup competition for its development sides. Leinster Rugby#Leinster A, Leinster A and Munster Rugby#Munster A, Munster A were the most successful sides in the competition, winning the trophy twice each. Five English clubs shared the remaining competition wins. Format A total of twenty-four teams from England (twelve), Ireland (three), Scotland (three) and Wales (six) competed in the inaugural competition. This remained the case for the first thr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2008–09 National Division One
The RFU Championship, 2008–09 National Division One was the 22nd full season of rugby union within the second tier of the English league system, currently known as the RFU Championship. Leeds Tykes, Leeds Carnegie joined National Division One, having been relegated from the Guinness Premiership after the 2007–08 season. Otley RUFC, Otley and Manchester Rugby Club, Manchester were promoted from the 2007–08 National Division Two. Leeds Carnegie won a quick promotion back to the Guinness Premiership, while five teams were relegated to the newly named 2009–10 National League 1: Esher RFC, Esher, Sedgley Park R.U.F.C., Sedgley Park, Newbury R.F.C., Newbury, Otley R.U.F.C., Otley and Manchester Rugby Club, Manchester. The reason for the large number of teams being relegated was due to the league being restructured the next season from 16 to 12 teams as the new RFU Championship was introduced. Participating teams ;Notes Table Results Round 1 ---- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
