The 2009–10
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†...
was the first season of the annual
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 orig ...
competition for second tier,
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 cons ...
clubs from Britain and Ireland. First round matches began on Friday 20 November 2009 and the final was held on Sunday 16 May 2010.
The first competition was heavily criticised, with one reporter describing it as 'dismal'.
A total of 24 teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales competed in the inaugural competition.
Cornish Pirates
The Cornish Pirates () are a professional rugby union team who play in the RFU Championship, Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. The Cornish Pirates team are the 'First XV' o ...
lifted the cup, defeating
Munster A 23–14 in the final.
Teams
The allocation of teams was as follows:
* – 12 teams from the
RFU Championship
* – 3 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
* – 3 Scottish sides, 2 top clubs from the
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...
and
Gael Force, a side made up of a combination of National Academy players
* – 6 top clubs from the
Principality Premiership
Competition format
The teams were divided into four pools of six, playing over five weekends during the
Autumn International and
Six Nations windows. The four pool winners contested a knock-out stage, with semi-finals on 24 and 25 April and the final on 16 May.
Pool stages
Pool A
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Pool B
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Pool C
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Pool D
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Knock-out stages
Qualifiers
The four pool winners proceeded to the knock out stages.
Semi-finals
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Final
Geography
References
External links
Unofficial British and Irish Cup website - latest news, teams etc Results from the BBC
{{DEFAULTSORT:British and Irish Cup
British and Irish Cup
2009–10 rugby union tournaments for clubs
2009–10 RFU Championship
2009–10 in Irish rugby union
2009–10 in Welsh rugby union
2009–10 in Scottish rugby union
2009–10 in British rugby union