The 2013–14
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 fifth 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.
Leinster A were the defending champions having won the 2012–13 Final with a 78th minute
penalty
Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to:
Sports
* Foul (sports)
** Penalty (golf)
** Penalty (gridiron football)
** Penalty (ice hockey)
** Penalty (rugby)
** Penalty (rugby union)
** Penalty kick (assoc ...
by
Noel Reid to beat
Newcastle Falcons
Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union.
The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...
18–17 at their home ground
Kingston Park
Kingston Park is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, about north west of the city centre.
It is home to several large retailers, the largest being one of Tesco's flagship stores—at 11,055 square metres (119,000 sq ft) which was also t ...
. There has been four different winners and four different losing finalists of the competition in the first four seasons of its existence.
The format of the competition has been changed once again, with Welsh participation being reduced to just four teams (down from 12 in the
previous season). The Welsh teams were selected based on
regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
play-offs involving the
2013–14 Premier Division clubs at the start of the season. This process yielded
Pontypridd
Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre.
Geography
Pontypridd comprises the ...
to represent the
Cardiff Blues Region,
Cross Keys to represent the
Dragons Region,
Aberavon
Aberavon () is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a district of Por ...
to represent the
Ospreys Region, and
Llanelli
; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...
to represent the
Scarlets Region.
Matches in the competition proper were played on the same weekends as the
Heineken Cup
The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...
and
European Challenge Cup
The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...
. First round matches began on 11 October 2013 and the final was held on 23 May 2014. Leinster A beat Leeds Carnegie 44 – 17 in the final and retained the cup they won in the previous season – the first team to win the cup for a second time.
Teams
The allocation of teams was as follows:
* – 12 clubs from
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 Eng ...
* – 4 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
* – 4 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 ...
* – 4 clubs from the
Welsh Premier Division
The Welsh Premier Division, () known for sponsorship reasons as the Admiral 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.
2025–26 se ...
Welsh qualification
Welsh participation was reduced from 12 teams (in the previous season) to just four. The Welsh teams were selected based on
regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
play-offs involving the 2013–14 Premier Division clubs at the start of the season.
Teams gained home advantage depending upon their
finishing position at the end of the 2012–13 season. For example, in the
Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams.
Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...
region,
Cardiff RFC
Cardiff Rugby Football Club () is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after which relocating to Ca ...
(8th in the 2012-13 Welsh Premier Division) traveled to
Sardis Road
Sardis Road () is a rugby union stadium situated in Pontypridd, Wales. It is home to the Indigo Group Premiership team, Pontypridd RFC and previously the Celtic Warriors, the now defunct regional rugby union team. It is commonly known as the " ...
to play
Pontypridd RFC
Pontypridd Rugby Football Club () is a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It competes in the Admiral Premiership and the WRU Premiership Cup, a trophy which they won for the 7th time in 2025. Their last league title ...
(1st). Likewise,
Llanelli RFC
Llanelli Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872.
The club's historic home ground was Stradey Park in Llanelli, but they moved in 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent Pemberton. The club song is " ...
(3rd) hosted
Carmarthen Quins RFC
Carmarthen Quins Rugby Football Club () are one of two Welsh rugby union clubs based in Carmarthen in West Wales, the other being Carmarthen Athletic.
They currently play in the Super Rygbi Cymru and are a feeder club for the Scarlets regiona ...
(6th) with the winner (Llanelli) travelling to
Llandovery RFC
Llandovery RFC () is a Welsh rugby union club based in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The club is an inaugural member of the Welsh Rugby Union, currently play in the Super Rygbi Cymru and is a feeder club for the Scarlets, a Pro14 club. L ...
(2nd) to contest the right to represent the
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 in European Professional Club Rugby c ...
region.
Cardiff Blues Region
* The winner of the Cardiff Blues Region, Pontypridd, will play in Pool 2.
Dragons Region
* The winner of the Dragons Region, Cross Keys, will play in Pool 1.
[
]
Ospreys Region
* The winner of the Ospreys Region, Aberavon, will play in Pool 5.[
]
Scarlets Region
* The winner of the Scarlets Region, Llanelli, will play in Pool 3.[
]
Competition format
The competition format is a pool stage followed by a knockout stage. The pool stage consists of six pools of four teams playing home and away matches. The top side in each pool, plus the two best runners-up, will progress to the knockout stage. The eight quarter-finalists will be ranked, with teams ranked 1-4 having home advantage. The four winning quarter finalists will progress to the semi-final draw.[ Matches will take place on the same weekends as the ]Heineken
Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star.
History
On 15 February 1864, ...
and Amlin
MS Amlin Ltd is an insurer operating in the Lloyd's, UK, Continental Europe and Bermudian markets. Specialising in providing insurance cover to commercial enterprises and reinsurance protection to other insurance companies around the world, MS ...
Cups.
Pool stages
The fixture weekends have been announced.
Pool 1
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* This win secured Leinster's qualification to the knock out stages.
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Pool 2
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Pool 3
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* Rotherham qualified for the knockout stages with this win as their nearest rivals, Llanelli, cannot overtake them.
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Pool 4
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Pool 5
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* This match was abandoned after 69 minutes when a large hole appeared in the pitch due to a collapsed drain. Bristol were leading 20 – 24 at this point. The match was ordered to be replayed at Talbot Athletic Ground before the conclusion of the pool stages on a date suitable to both clubs.
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Pool 6
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* Cornish Pirates qualified for the knockout stages after this win.
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Knock-out stages
Qualifiers
The six pool winners, and the two best runners-up, proceed to the knock out stages. The ranking criteria of the quarter finalists has been altered slightly from earlier seasons. Previously, the six pool winners were seeded 1-6 and the two runners up as 7 and 8. This meant that the best runners-up were automatically ranked 7 and 8 even if they had a better playing record than some of the teams ranked 1–6. This is no longer the case.[
There was a draw for the quarter-final stage, which took place on 27 January 2014. The top four seeds ( Leinster A, ]Leeds Carnegie
Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University
Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LM ...
, 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 ...
and Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
) will have home advantage.
Quarter-finals
The draw for the quarter-finals was carried out on 27 January 2014.
Semi-finals
The draw for the semi-finals was carried out on 27 January 2014.[
* Leinster won on tries scored.][
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]
Final
On 14 April, it was announced that the final will be played at the home of the winner of the Pontypridd / Leinster A semi-final. This will be played on Friday 23 May, at a time to be decided.
Top scorers
Top points scorers
Top try scorers
Geography
;Notes
Notes
References
External links
Unofficial British and Irish Cup website - latest news, teams etc
{{DEFAULTSORT:British and Irish Cup
British and Irish Cup
2013–14 rugby union tournaments for clubs
2013–14 RFU Championship
2013–14 in Irish rugby union
2013–14 in Welsh rugby union
2013–14 in Scottish rugby union
2013–14 in British rugby union