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 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 professional second tier of rugby union in England. It featured eleven English teams 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 ...

. The competition was sponsored by

Greene King Greene King is a British pub and brewing company founded in 1799, currently based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The company also owns brands including Hungry Horse and Farmhouse Inns, as well as other pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed o ...

for the seventh successive season. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirm ...

, 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 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 ...

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 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 ...

at the bottom.

Structure

The team that finished first was promoted to

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 ...

as their ground met the RFU Minimum Standards Criteria. The team that finished last was

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

. Each club received £530,000 in funding from the RFU in the last year of a deal with the RFU. Plans to expand Premiership Rugby from 12 to 13 teams for the 2019–20 season, which would have reprieved

from being relegated to the Championship, were blocked by the RFU. Plans to abolish promotion and relegation were under discussion prior to the season, and drew complaints and threats of legal action from the

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 ...

. There were also plans for the RFU Championship to have a delayed start until October due to the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

. The season began on 20 September 2019 with the Championship Rugby Cup after which the first round of matches started on 11 October 2019 and the final round of matches were scheduled to be played on 9 May 2020.

Teams

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 ...

were relegated to National League 1 after finishing bottom of the 2018-19 RFU Championship. They are replaced by

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It lies between Bedford, Bedfordshire, Bedford and Luton. At the 2021 census it had a population of 8,825. Histor ...

who were promoted from 2018-19 National League 1 in their fifth promotion in twelve years, playing in the Championship for the first time.

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 ...

were promoted back to Premiership Rugby at the first attempt. They are replaced in the RFU Championship by Newcastle Falcons who were relegated after finishing last in 2018-19 Premiership Rugby.

Tables

At the date the Championship was suspended, the Championship table read as follows: On 4 April, the Rugby Football Union confirmed the final table for the season.

Fixtures & Results

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

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Round 4

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Round 5

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Round 6

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Round 7

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Round 8

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Round 9

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Round 10

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Round 11

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Round 12

*Game postponed due to bad weather (storm). Game to be rescheduled to 22 February 2020. ----

Round 13

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Round 12 (rescheduled game)

*Game rescheduled from 9 February 2020. ----

Round 14

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Round 15

*Cancelled due to

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

outbreak. *Cancelled due to

outbreak.

Attendances

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).

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

Season records

Team

;Largest home win — 52 points (2) 52 – 0 Cornish Pirates at home to Yorkshire Carnegie on 12 January 2020
55 – 3 Coventry at home to Yorkshire Carnegie on 15 February 2020 ;Largest away win — 53 points 66 – 13 Ealing Trailfinders away to Yorkshire Carnegie on 10 November 2019 ;Most points scored — 77 points 77 – 26 Ealing Trailfinders at home to Ampthill on 18 January 2020 ;Most tries in a match — 11 (2) Ealing Trailfinders at home to Ampthill on 18 January 2020
London Scottish away to Yorkshire Carnegie on 1 March 2020 ;Most conversions in a match — 10 Ealing Trailfinders at home to Ampthill on 18 January 2020 ;Most penalties in a match — 5 (2) Coventry away to Jersey Reds on 12 October 2019
Doncaster Knights at home to Bedford Blues on 2 November 2019 ;Most drop goals in a match — 0

Attendances

;Highest — 6,315 Newcastle Falcons at home to Cornish Pirates on 16 February 2020 ;Lowest — 300 Yorkshire Carnegie at home to Ampthill on 22 February 2020 ;Highest average attendance — 4,707 Newcastle Falcons ;Lowest average attendance — 776 Yorkshire Carnegie

Player

;Most points in a match — 25 Jack Spittle for Nottingham away to Yorkshire Carnegie on 31 January 2020 ;Most tries in a match — 5 Jack Spittle for Nottingham away to Yorkshire Carnegie on 31 January 2020 ;Most conversions in a match — 8 Harry Sheppard for London Scottish away to Yorkshire Carnegie on 1 March 2020 ;Most penalties in a match — 5 (2) Rory Jennings for Coventry away to Jersey Reds on 12 October 2019
Sam Olver for Doncaster Knights at home to Bedford Blues on 2 November 2019 ;Most drop goals in a match — 0

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 RFU Championship RFU Championship seasons 2019–20 in English rugby union leagues