Guiness Premiership Rugby
England
Premiership Rugby Union
Leicester Tigers vs Saracens Match scheduled:
Date: 29-05-2010
Time: 16:30 until 18:45
Final - Guinness Premiership
Watch live rugby TV
In 1972 the RFU sanctioned a national knock-out cup - the R.F.U Club Competition - followed first by regional merit tables and then, in the mid 1980s, by national merit tables. One of the casualties of the move to competitive leagues was the loss of traditional games as the new fixture lists did not allow enough time for them.
The league system has evolved since its start in 1987 when the Courage Leagues were formed - a league pyramid with 1000 clubs playing in 108 leagues each with promotion and relegation.
In the first season, clubs were expected to arrange the fixtures on mutually convenient dates. The clubs involved were Bath, Bristol, Coventry, Gloucester, Harlequins, Leicester, Moseley, Nottingham, Orrell, Sale, Wasps and Waterloo. That first season was an unqualified success, with clubs in the upper echelons of the national leagues reporting increased crowds, interest from both local backers and national companies as well as higher skill levels among players exposed to regular competition. The fears that leagues would lead to greater violence on the field proved largely unfounded.
By the next season, the RFU allocated fixed Saturdays to the league season, removing the clubs' responsibility for scheduling matches. There was no home and away structure to the leagues in those early seasons, as sides played one another only once.
Initially two teams, Bath and Leicester, proved to be head and shoulders above the rest in the Courage League, and between them dominated the top of the table.
In 1994 the league structure expanded to include a full rota of home and away matches for the first time. The 1994/1995 season was the first to be shown live on Sky Sports, a relationship which continues to this day.
[edit] 1996 : The dawn of Professional Rugby Union
The league turned professional for the 1996/97 season when the first winners were Wasps RFC, now known as London Wasps, joining Bath and Leicester as the only champions in the league's first decade. Clubs like Saracens, Newcastle and Northampton were able to attract wealthy benefactors, but the professional era also had its casualties, as clubs like West Hartlepool, Richmond and London Scottish were forced into administration when their backers pulled out.
[edit] 2000 : The Premiership and the Playoffs
The re-branding of the league to the Zurich Premiership at the start 2000/01 season also brought with it a re-vamping of the season structure. In 2000–2001 an 8-team play-off system was implemented, but the regular season champion was still considered English champion ("Zurich Premiership title") with the playoff champion claiming the "Zurich Championship title".
In the 2001–2002 season a controversial knock-out cup style play-off system was introduced. Half-way through the season, with Leicester odds-on to win their fourth title in succession, it was decided that the winners of the playoffs would be crowned champions.[1] There was an outcry from fans and this proposal was dropped, but the next year a similar proposal was adopted under which the winner of the league had to play the winner of a match between the second- and third-placed teams for the title. Although Gloucester won the league by a clear margin, they then faced a three week wait until the final. Having lost their momentum the second-placed Wasps (who had defeated third-placed Northampton) beat them easily in the play-offs. The playoff structure was reformatted in the 2005-06 season in which the first placed team would play the fourth placed team in a semi-final (a Shaughnessy playoff).
Since the implementation of the playoff system, only two teams have won both the regular season and playoffs in the same year—Leicester in 2000–2001 (the first year of the playoffs) and again in 2008-09, and Sale Sharks in 2005–06.
[edit] The Ascendancy of the Playoffs : 2003 - present
From 2002–2003 season the English Champion team has been the one winning the Championship Final. Of all the Premiership teams, London Wasps have made a reputation for playing the competition format to perfection, peaking at the right time to be crowned English Champions in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008. Wasps did not lead the league standings at the end of the season in any of these years. Indeed, the London club have not finished on top of the league placings since the playoffs began.
Conversely, Gloucester Rugby have garnered an unfortunate reputation for leading the table at the end of the regular season, only to fall short of winning the Premiership in 2003, 2007 and 2008. Gloucester's single victory in the playoffs, in 2002, occurred when the league leaders, in that season Leicester, were still considered English champions, Gloucester's Premiership Championship victory being considered secondary.
[edit] Other season highlights
Since 2004, the season has begun with the London Double Header.
On 27 December 2008 Harlequins moved their home match against Leicester Tigers across the road to Twickenham Stadium in what was dubbed 'The Big Game'. 50,000 spectators attended (a Guinness Premiership record) and there are plans to hold to repeat this at Christmas 2010 after successfully holding another in 2009. On 24 April 2010 Wasps also moved their home match with Bath to Twickenham for the St George's Day game in support of Help for Heroes.
[edit] Competition
[edit] Format
The Guinness Premiership regular season runs from September to May and comprises 22 rounds of matches, with each club playing each of its rivals home and away. During a Premiership match, points that contribute to team standings can be earned in a number of ways:
- 4 points are awarded for a win
- 2 points are awarded for a draw
- 1 additional (bonus) point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer
- 1 additional (bonus) point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match
After the completion of the 22 regular season rounds, the final standings of the twelve clubs determine which teams enter the finals - the top four clubs in the standings enter the semi-finals. The club that finishes at the top of the table earns a home game in their semi-final against the fourth-placed club. The club that finishes second in the standings also earns a home semi-final, hosting the third-placed club. The two semi-finals are played in May, with the winners of both games entering the championship final, which is played at Twickenham Stadium. The winner of the final are the season champions.
[edit] Promotion and relegation
- See also English rugby union system
There is a system of promotion and relegation to and from the Guinness Premiership. The last placed club after the 22 regular season rounds of the Premiership is relegated into the RFU Championship (the former National Division One), while the winner of the Championship is promoted to the Premiership for the subsequent season. However, promotion and relegation is subject to a Minimum Standards Criteria.
[edit] European competitions
Teams playing in the Guinness Premiership also compete in the two European Rugby Cup competitions: the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup. The number of clubs taking part in either competition varies each season according to performances of English clubs in the prior season. The top four placed clubs in the Guinness Premiership qualify for the Heineken Cup, though more clubs can qualify in a number of ways: the previous season's Heineken Cup winner, the champion of the European Challenge Cup or the winner of the LV Cup (officially "LV=" per the sponsor's branding). In total, six clubs usually compete in the Heineken Cup.
Following changes to European qualification that take effect in the 2009–10 season, the winners of the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup will receive berths in the following year's Heineken Cup, which will not usually count against the Premiership's allocation. However, the number of English teams in the Heineken Cup is capped at seven. If Premiership clubs win both European trophies during a given season, only five other clubs can earn Heineken Cup berths through the league or LV= Cup.
Seven Premiership clubs will compete in the Heineken Cup if either of the following occurs:
- A Premiership club wins either of the previous season's European trophies.
- Both European trophies in the previous season were won by clubs from France (which is also capped at seven Heineken Cup teams), and the club that stands highest in the European Rugby Club Rankings among those not already qualified for the Heineken Cup is English.
All clubs that do not qualify for the Heineken Cup play in the European Challenge Cup.
- Courage League: 1987–88 to 1996–97
- Allied Dunbar Premiership: 1997–98 to 1999–2000
- Zurich Premiership: 2000–01 to 2004–05
- Guinness Premiership: 2005–06 to present
[edit] 2009-10 teams
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | City/Area |
| Bath | Recreation Ground | 11,700[2] | Bath, Somerset |
| Gloucester | Kingsholm Stadium | 16,500 | Gloucester, Gloucestershire |
| Harlequins | Twickenham Stoop | 14,816 | Twickenham, Middlesex/London |
| Leeds | Headingley Stadium | 22,500 | Leeds, West Yorkshire |
| Leicester Tigers | Welford Road | 24,500 | Leicester, Leicestershire |
| London Irish | Madejski Stadium | 24,161 | Reading, Berkshire |
| London Wasps | Adams Park | 10,000 | High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire |
| Newcastle Falcons | Kingston Park | 10,200 | Newcastle, Tyne and Wear |
| Northampton Saints | Franklin's Gardens | 13,600 (expanding to 17,000)[3] | Northampton, Northamptonshire |
| Sale Sharks | Edgeley Park | 10,852 | Stockport, Greater Manchester |
| Saracens | Vicarage Road | 19,920 | Watford, Hertfordshire |
| Worcester Warriors | Sixways Stadium | 13,200 | Worcester, Worcestershire |
[edit] Current standings
| |
| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Tries For | Tries Against | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points |
| 1 | Leicester Tigers (Q) (F) | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 541 | 325 | 216 | 46 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 73 |
| 2 | Northampton Saints (Q) | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 472 | 322 | 150 | 44 | 26 | 2 | 5 | 71 |
| 3 | Saracens (q) (F) | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 480 | 367 | 113 | 39 | 22 | 2 | 5 | 69 |
| 4 | Bath Rugby (q) | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 450 | 366 | 84 | 49 | 33 | 5 | 4 | 61 |
| 5 | London Wasps | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 394 | 399 | -5 | 35 | 31 | 2 | 3 | 57 |
| 6 | London Irish | 22 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 469 | 384 | 85 | 42 | 33 | 3 | 3 | 52 |
| 7 | Gloucester Rugby | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 470 | 457 | 13 | 46 | 42 | 2 | 4 | 48 |
| 8 | Harlequins | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 420 | 484 | -64 | 42 | 46 | 3 | 3 | 46 |
| 9 | Newcastle Falcons | 22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 319 | 431 | -112 | 20 | 41 | 1 | 4 | 37 |
| 10 | Leeds Carnegie | 22 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 280 | 454 | -174 | 17 | 43 | 0 | 6 | 36 |
| 11 | Sale Sharks | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 333 | 495 | -162 | 24 | 51 | 0 | 6 | 32 |
| 12 | Worcester Warriors (R) | 22 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 312 | 420 | -108 | 23 | 36 | 0 | 8 | 28 |
| If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: |
