2012–13 RFU Championship: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 10:50, 18 September 2012
| 2012–13 RFU Championship | |
|---|---|
| Countries | England Jersey |
| Champions | TBD |
| Runners-up | TBD |
| Relegated | TBD |
| Matches played | 12 |
| Attendance | 22,074 (average 1,840 per match) |
The 2012–13 RFU Championship will be the fourth season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship,[1] the second tier of English domestic rugby union competitions, played between August 2012 and May 2013.
After an appeal, the champions, London Welsh are promoted to the Aviva Premiership and subsequently Newcastle Falcons relegated, due to finishing bottom of the Aviva Premiership during the 2011–12 season.[2][3] On 8 May 2012 it was announced that only Bristol and London Welsh were eligible for promotion under the RFU's minimum standards criteria;[4] London Welsh advanced to the Championship final,[5] whilst Bristol were defeated in their semi-final by the Cornish Pirates, a club that could not meet the standards criteria.[6] However on 23 May, the day of the first leg of the final, the RFU announced that London Welsh would not be eligible for promotion due to "various failures". London Welsh's appeal was heard by an Independent Panel on 29 June which ruled ″... that the Exiles should be promoted on the basis that they play their home games at Oxford's Kassam Stadium and that the club meet the minumum entry criteria to the league as imposed by the Professional Game Board.″ Chief Executive Officer of the RFU, Ian Richie, subsequently announced that there would be a full review of the Minimum Standard Criteria.[7] Esher dropped out of the Championship after being relegated and they will be replaced by a club from the Channel Islands, Jersey who won National League 1 last season and will compete in the Championship for the first time after after three consecutive promotions. [8] [9][10]
The twelve clubs in the 2012–13 Championship will also participate in the 2012–13 edition of the British and Irish Cup along with clubs from Wales, Scotland and Ireland.[11]
Structure
The Championship's structure has all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis. The play-off structure has been changed dramatically for the 2012–13 season. Previously, the top eight teams entered into a complex mixture of pool and knockout play to determine promotion to the Premiership, whilst the bottom four entered into a pool whose last–placed team was relegated to National League 1.[12] The play–off pools have been abolished beginning with this season. On the promotion side, the knockout stage, involving two–legged semi–finals followed by a two–legged final, will remain in place. Now, the top four teams at the end of the home–and–away season qualify for the promotion play–offs. There will be no relegation play–offs; the bottom team will now be automatically relegated.[12]
Competition funding
The RFU Championship clubs were in dispute with the RFU over funding for the competition and claimed that each club was owed £77,000 for the past three seasons and will be owed a further £120,000 over the next four seasons. The clubs also believed they should have receive £295,000 in 2009–10, rising to £400,000 by 2015–16 and further believed there was a breach of contract on the part of the RFU. The RFU stated that the original funding was an estimate and by 2015–16 the figure will be £359,400.[7] On 21 August the RFU unveiled the Championship funding structure for the next four seasons to 2015–16. The funding is based on the continuation of the “English Qualified Players scheme”, where clubs are required to field fifteen English qualified players in the 22 man squad on each matchday. (In previous seasons teams were required to field fourteen.) Although the amount is not given in the press release, the RFU also stated they will “increase its financial underwritings in relation to a title sponsorship while efforts continue to secure a partner”.
Participating teams
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | City/Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford Blues | Goldington Road | 7,000 | Bedford, Bedfordshire |
| Bristol | Memorial Stadium | 12,100 | Bristol |
| Cornish Pirates | Mennaye Field | 2,000 | Penzance |
| Doncaster Knights | Castle Park | 3,075 | Doncaster |
| Jersey | St. Peter | 4,000 | Saint Peter, Jersey |
| Leeds Carnegie | Headingley Carnegie Stadium | 20,250 | Headingley, Leeds |
| London Scottish | Athletic Ground, Richmond | 4,500 | London |
| Moseley | Billesley Common | 3,000+ | Birmingham |
| Newcastle Falcons | Kingston Park | 10,200 | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Nottingham | Meadow Lane | 19,588 | Nottingham |
| Plymouth Albion | The Brickfields | 8,500 | Plymouth |
| Rotherham Titans | Clifton Lane | 2,500 | Rotherham |
League Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newcastle Falcons (CH) | 22 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 677 | 252 | +425 | 13 | 1 | 98 | Promotion place |
| 2 | Nottingham (SF) | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 624 | 409 | +215 | 10 | 4 | 74 | |
| 3 | Bedford Blues (RU) | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 664 | 485 | +179 | 11 | 2 | 71 | |
| 4 | Leeds Carnegie (SF) | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 585 | 480 | +105 | 9 | 6 | 67 | |
| 5 | Bristol | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 524 | 481 | +43 | 6 | 3 | 65 | |
| 6 | Cornish Pirates | 22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 435 | 480 | −45 | 5 | 3 | 52 | |
| 7 | Rotherham Titans | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 503 | 569 | −66 | 6 | 3 | 51 | |
| 8 | London Scottish | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 456 | 610 | −154 | 4 | 4 | 45[a] | |
| 9 | Plymouth Albion | 22 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 419 | 518 | −99 | 4 | 8 | 40 | |
| 10 | Moseley | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 377 | 542 | −165 | 1 | 6 | 33 | |
| 11 | Jersey | 22 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 385 | 595 | −210 | 2 | 5 | 31 | |
| 12 | Doncaster Knights (R) | 22 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 364 | 592 | −228 | 2 | 7 | 23 | Relegation place |
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
- Number of matches won
- Difference between points for and against
- Total number of points for
- Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
- Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Notes:
Regular season
Round 1
| 30 August 2012 1945 |
| Nottingham | 34 – 29 | Leeds Carnegie |
| Report |
| Meadow Lane Attendance: 1536 Referee:  Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts |
| 1 September 2012 15:00 |
| Bedford Blues | 50 – 6 | Moseley |
| Report |
| Goldington Road Attendance: 2104 Referee: John Meredith |
| 1 September 2012 15:00 |
| Plymouth Albion | 27 – 22 | Doncaster Knights |
| Report |
| The Brickfields Attendance: 1364 Referee: David Rose |
| 2 September 2012 1400 |
| London Scottish | 26 – 20 | Rotherham Titans |
| Report |
| Athletic Ground, Richmond Attendance: 894 Referee: Darren Gamage |
| 2 September 2012 1500 |
| Bristol | 20 – 37 | Newcastle Falcons |
| Report |
| Memorial Stadium Attendance: 4851 Referee: Tim Wigglesworth |
Round 2
| 7 September 2012 1945 |
| Doncaster Knights | 9 – 18 | Bristol |
| Report |
| Castle Park Attendance: 1013 Referee: Darren Gamage |
| 7 September 2012 2000 |
| Leeds Carnegie | 32 – 19 | Jersey |
| Report |
| Headingley Carnegie Stadium Attendance: 2066 Referee: Ian Tempest |
| 8 September 2012 1500 |
| London Scottish | 32 – 49 | Newcastle Falcons |
| Report |
| Athletic Ground, Richmond Attendance: 1380 Referee: Ross Campbell |
| 8 September 2012 1500 |
| Moseley | 17 – 28 | Nottingham |
| Report |
| Billesley Common Attendance: 938 Referee: Sean Davey |
| 9 September 2012 1500 |
| Rotherham Titans | 38 – 38 | Bedford Blues |
| Report |
| Clifton Lane Attendance: 1198 Referee: Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts |
| 9 September 2012 1500 |
| Cornish Pirates | 19 – 17 | Plymouth Albion |
| Report |
| Mennaye Field Attendance: 2260 Referee: Matt Carley |
Round 3
| 15 September 2012 1500 |
| Bedford Blues | 55 – 20 | London Scottish |
| Goldington Road Referee: |
| 15 September 2012 1500 |
| Jersey | 12 – 31 | Moseley |
| St Peter Referee: |
| 15 September 2012 1500 |
| Plymouth Albion | 32 – 31 | Leeds Carnegie |
| Brickfields Referee: |
| 16 September 2012 1500 |
| Nottingham | 16 - 27 | Rotherham Titans |
| Meadow Lane Referee: |
| 16 September 2012 1515 |
| Bristol | 29 - 17 | Cornish Pirates |
| Memorial Stadium Referee: |
References
- ^ "Competitions & Tournaments". RFU. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
- ^ "London Welsh win Premiership promotion, Newcastle relegated". BBC Sport. 2012-06-29. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
- ^ 15:09 GMT (2012-05-05). "Wasps 10–14 Newcastle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ 13:11 GMT. "Newcastle Falcons half-back Chris Pilgrim extends contract". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "London Welsh 17-24 Bedford Blues (agg 30-27)". BBC Sport. 2012-05-13. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Championship semi-final play-off: Bristol 29-18 Cornish Pirates". BBC Sport. 2012-05-13. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b Straughan, Dick (5 July 2012). "Falcons relegated as Welsh win RFU promotion appleal". The Cornishman. p. 80.
- ^ 12:30 GMT (2012-04-23). "Esher RFC president says club will cope with relegation". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ 18:12 GMT (2012-04-21). "Jersey promoted to Championship by beating Coventry". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Tim Pryor (2012-04-23). "Jersey promoted: The rise and rise of an island side". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
- ^ "Rugby Football Union to fund travel for Cup games". BBC Sport. 2010-11-04. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
- ^ a b "Championship: RFU to abolish play-off pool stages". BBC Sport. 2012-05-17. Retrieved 2012-05-17.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "RFU Upholds London Scottish Verdict". London Scottish. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.