The 2021–22 Premiership Rugby was the 35th season of the top flight of English domestic

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 and the fourth to be sponsored by Gallagher. It is also the first since 1992–93 to feature thirteen teams. The competition was broadcast by

BT Sport TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...

for the ninth successive season with four league season games and the final also simulcast free-to-air on ITV. Highlights of each weekend's games were shown on ITV with extended highlights on

. The reigning champions entering the season were Harlequins who claimed their 2nd title after defeating

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

in the 2021 final.

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

were promoted as champions from the

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 ...

at the first attempt. Due to changes to the global rugby calendar implemented in 2020 and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

causing a moratorium to be placed on relegation last season, the tournament features thirteen teams and will include an extra four rounds. The season would take place over 40 weeks.

Rule changes

This season sees the second year of a three-year moratorium on relegation from the league.

Salary cap

This season is the first under the reduced

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...

regulations before changes are made before 2024–25. A brief summary of the changes are: * Senior ceiling is reduced from £6.4m to £5m. * Homegrown player credits retained up to £600,000 * International and EPS credits retained but limited to £400,000. * Season-long loan salary cap exemption is removed. * Academy ceiling for international players retained at £100,000 but with maximum salary increasing from £30,000 to £50,000. Homegrown academy players are not counted in the £100,000 limit. * For contracts continuing into 2021–22, the cap cost will be counted at 75% of their actual value to manage transition to the new caps. * Two players continue to be excluded from the salary cap for this season.

Teams

For the first time since the 2002–03 Premiership Rugby season, all teams from the previous season will compete in the league together with

who were promoted from the

after an absence of one year, thus making a thirteen team league.

Stadiums and locations

Table

Regular season

Fixtures for the season were announced by

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 ...

on 13 July 2021. The league season begins on 17 September 2021 and is due to end on 18 June 2022. Each team receives two bye weeks. Highlights of the season include: * Big Game 13 – Harlequins played host to

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

in this season's edition of The Big Game at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

on 27 December 2021. * The Showdown 2 –

played host to

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

in this season's edition of The Showdown at

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the home of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur in North London, replacing the club's previous ground, White Hart Lane. With a seating capacity of 62,850, it is the List of football stadium ...

on 26 March 2022. * Big Summer Kick-Off – Harlequins played host to

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

in this season's edition of the Big Summer Kick-Off at

on 21 May 2022. All fixtures are subject to change.

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

Round 23

Round 24

Round 25

Round 26

Play-offs

As in previous seasons, the top four teams in the Premiership table, following the conclusion of the regular season, contest the play-off semi-finals in a 1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd format, with the higher ranking team having home advantage. The two winners of the semi-finals then meet in the Premiership Final at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

on 18 June 2022.

Semi-finals

Final

Leading scorers

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

Most points

Source:

Most tries

Source:

Discipline

Citings/bans

Notes:

Awards

Player of the Month

The following received Player of the Month awards during the 2021–22 season, as selected by a panel of media commentators, in addition to monthly public polls.

End-of-season awards

The winners of the 2022 Premiership Rugby Awards were announced on 7 June 2022.

Team of the Season

Hall of Fame

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Premiership Rugby, 2021-22 2021-22