The 2016–17 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, is the eighth season of the professionalised format of the
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 ...
, the second tier of the
English rugby union league system run by the
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...
. It is contested by eleven English clubs and one from
Jersey
Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
in the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
. This will be the fourth year of the competition's sponsorship with
Greene King Brewery.
The twelve teams in the RFU Championship also compete in the
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� ...
, along with clubs from
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
and
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. Some matches in the RFU Championship are broadcast on
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
.
On 24 January 2017 London Welsh were expelled from the championship after failing to meet the conditions required by the RFU to extend a temporary licence granted after their liquidation. The club's record for the season was expunged. The RFU announced that no team would be relegated from the Championship at the end of the season.
Structure
The Championship's structure has all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis. The play-off structure will remain the same as the previous year.
The top four teams at the end of the home-and-away season qualify for the promotion play-offs which follow a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system. The winners have to meet the RFU's Minimum Standards Criteria in order to be promoted to the
English Premiership. There is no promotion if a ground fails to meet the criteria. Unlike previous seasons there will be no relegation from the league this year.
In 2015 the RFU increased annual funding to over £500,000 per club, an agreement which will last until 2020. Despite this,
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 ...
stated more money was needed in RFU grants to support a fully professional second tier.
The 2016–17 season was also the last for play-offs in the Championship for three seasons. Starting with the 2017–18 season, the play-offs will be replaced by automatic promotion for the team that finishes first in the home-and-away season, provided said team meets the Minimum Standards Criteria.
Teams
After ten seasons in the Championship
Birmingham Moseley were relegated following their last place finish
in 2016. They are replaced by
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, a city in the United States
* Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
, who won the
National League 1
National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...
and return to the second tier for the first time since 1997.
Richmond subsequently entered administration and dropped eight tiers following two seasons in the premiership between
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
and
1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.
Events January
* January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
* January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
.
As a result, Richmond stated that they would remain semi-professional and not sign any professional players despite the RFU Championship being fully professional.
London Irish
London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...
, an original founder of the professional English Premiership, join the league after relegation from the
2015–16 Aviva Premiership, finishing bottom of the table.
On 7 December 2016
London Welsh RFC
London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...
went into liquidation. They were deducted 20 points but allowed to continue in the Championship until January when the RFU would decide on their future.
On 24 January 2017 London Welsh were expelled from the championship after failing to meet the conditions required by the RFU to extend the temporary licence. The club's record for the season was
expunged
In the common law legal systems of the world, legal system, an expungement or expunction proceeding, is a type of lawsuit in which an individual who has been arrested for or convicted of a crime seeks that the records of that earlier process be Re ...
and there would be no relegation from the Championship at the end of season.
[
;Notes
]
Table
Fixtures
Fixtures for the season were announced by the RFU on 8 July 2016.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Round 22
Play-offs
Semi-finals
The semi-finals follow a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system – with the games being played over two-legs and the higher placed team choosing which leg they play at home. The matches are due to be played on 28/30 April 2017 and 5/6 May 2017.
First leg
Second leg
* Yorkshire Carnegie won 52 – 36 on aggregate
Final
The final is played over two legs – with the higher placed team deciding which leg they play at home.
First leg
Second leg
* London Irish won 84 – 66 on aggregate and are promoted to the Premiership
Attendances
*Includes playoff games.
Individual statistics
* Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Appearance figures also include coming on as substitutes (unused substitutes not included). Stats also cover playoff games.
Top points scorers
Top try scorers
Season records
* Updated to 17 May 2017
Team
;Largest home win — 79 pts
82 – 3 London Irish at home to Rotherham Titans on 8 April 2017
;Largest away win — 50 pts
62 – 12 London Irish away to London Scottish on 30 October 2016
;Most points scored — 82 pts
82 – 3 London Irish at home to Rotherham Titans on 8 April 2017
;Most tries in a match — 12
London Irish at home to Rotherham Titans on 8 April 2017
;Most conversions in a match — 11
London Irish at home to Rotherham Titans on 8 April 2017
;Most penalties in a match — 7
London Scottish at home to Ealing Trailfinders on 2 December 2016
;Most drop goals in a match — 1
N/A - multiple teams
Player
;Most points in a match — 32
Tommy Bell for London Irish away to London Scottish on 30 October 2016
;Most tries in a match — 3 (x9)
Tyson Lewis for Doncaster Knights away to Richmond on 17 September 2016
Patrick Tapley for Bedford Blues at home to Richmond on 1 October 2016
Jason Harries for London Scottish away to Doncaster Knights on 5 November 2016
TJ Harris for Nottingham at home to Yorkshire Carnegie on 26 December 2016
Ben West
Raphael Benjamin West (March 31, 1911 – November 20, 1974) was an American attorney and politician who served as
mayor of Nashville from 1951 to 1963, and as a Tennessee state senator from 1949 to 1951. While a state senator, he supported a ...
for Yorkshire Carnegie at home to Richmond on 26 March 2017
Ryan Burrows for Yorkshire Carnegie away to Bedford Blues on 8 April 2017
Alex Lewington for London Irish at home to Rotherham Titans on 8 April 2017
Tom Duncan for Cornish Pirates at home to Bedford Blues on 15 April 2017
James Stephenson for Nottingham away to London Scottish on 15 April 2017
;Most conversions in a match — 8 (x2)
Tommy Bell for London Irish away to London Scottish on 30 October 2016
Joe Ford for Yorkshire Carnegie at home to Rotherham Titans on 5 February 2017
;Most penalties in a match — 7
Peter Lydon for London Scottish at home to Ealing Trailfinders on 2 December 2016
;Most drop goals in a match — 1
N/A - multiple players
Attendances
;Highest — 11,671
London Irish at home to Cornish Pirates on 18 March 2017
;Lowest — 438
Ealing Trailfinders at home to Jersey Reds on 17 September 2016
;Highest Average Attendance — 4,110
London Irish
;Lowest Average Attendance — 914
Ealing Trailfinders
[
]
See also
* 2016–17 British and Irish Cup
* List of English Rugby Union stadiums by capacity
The following is a list of rugby union stadiums in England. The stadiums are organised by capacity, which is the maximum number of spectators the stadium can normally accommodate. Capacities are standard total capacity, including seats and any stan ...
References
External links
RFU Championship news
{{DEFAULTSORT:Championship
2016–17 in English rugby union leagues
2016-17