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2017–18 Principality Premiership

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2017–18 Principality Premiership
Countries Wales
Date26 August 2017 – 19 May 2018
ChampionsMerthyr (2nd title)
Runners-upLlandovery
Relegatednone
Matches played232

The 2017–18 Principality Premiership was the second season of the new format of the Principality Premiership, the top tier of club rugby in Wales run by the Welsh Rugby Union. It was contested by sixteen Welsh clubs following an expansion from twelve teams at the start of the 2016–17 season. This season will be "ring-fenced" and relegation will return at the end of the 2018–19 season. The competition was won by Merthyr for the second consecutive year; this season also marked a "double" for Merthyr as they also won the 2017–18 WRU National Cup.

Structure

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The Principality Premiership's structure has altered from the previous season. The teams will be split into two conferences (East and West) for the first half of the season. Each team will play each other team in their conference home and away. After 14 rounds, The league is amalgamated and all points reset to zero. However, clubs are awarded points based on their finishing position in their respective conference e.g. the 1st place team in a conference will receive 8 points, 2nd place – 7 points etc. right down to 8th place – 1 point. Each team will then play the other once, either home or away, for a grand total of 29 games. Unlike previous seasons, the winner will be determined by league position and not a play off system. Therefore, the league leader will be declared champions. This is the second season in which the "ring-fenced" system will be implemented, meaning no team is in danger of relegation until the 2018–19 season. However, ring-fencing will be under review at the end of this season.

Teams

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The same 16 teams that competed the previous season competed again this season. Merthyr were the reigning champions having beaten Aberavon 22–18 in last year's final.

Locations of the 2017–18 Principality Premiership teams with colour markers to represent the region they belong to:

Orange = Dragons
Blue = Cardiff Blues
Black = Ospreys
Red = Scarlets

  • RGC acts as a de facto club representing North Wales
Club Stadium Capacity Area
Aberavon Talbot Athletic Ground 3,000 Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot
Bargoed Bargoed Park 1,500 Bargoed, Caerphilly
Bedwas Bridge Field 2,000 Bedwas, Caerphilly
Bridgend Brewery Field 8,000 Bridgend
Cardiff Cardiff Arms Park 12,125 Cardiff
Carmarthen Quins Carmarthen Park 3,000 Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire
Cross Keys Pandy Park 3,000 Crosskeys, Caerphilly
Ebbw Vale Eugene Cross Park 8,000 Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent
Llandovery Church Bank Playing Fields 3,000 Llandovery, Carmarthenshire
Llanelli Parc y Scarlets 14,870 Llanelli, Carmarthenshire
Merthyr The Wern 4,500 Merthyr Tydfil
Neath The Gnoll 6,000 Neath, Neath Port Talbot
Newport Rodney Parade 11,676 Newport
Pontypridd Sardis Road 7,861 Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf
RGC 1404 Eirias Stadium 6,000 Colwyn Bay, Conwy
Swansea St Helen's 4,500 Swansea

Standings (East)

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2017–18 Principality Premiership Table (East)
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 Merthyr 14 11 0 3 480 338 +142 68 38 10 1 55
2 Pontypridd 14 11 0 3 426 313 +113 55 42 8 1 53
3 Bedwas 14 9 0 5 385 276 +109 47 31 5 2 43
4 Cardiff 14 7 0 7 339 323 +16 38 40 3 3 34
5 Newport 14 6 0 8 366 406 −40 48 55 5 2 31
6 Cross Keys 14 6 0 8 316 354 −38 41 43 4 1 29
7 Ebbw Vale 14 4 0 10 246 428 −182 26 56 0 2 18
8 Bargoed 14 2 0 12 245 365 −120 26 44 2 4 14
Updated to match(es) played on 23 December 2017. Source: "Principality Premiership". allwalessport.
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Number of tries scored
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Difference between points for and against
After 14 rounds, the two conferences merge and points are reset. Points are given according to league position (1st - 8 points, 2nd - 7 points, 3rd - 6 points etc.)

Standings (West)

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2017–18 Principality Premiership Table (West)
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 RGC 1404 14 11 1 2 375 294 +81 42 41 5 1 52
2 Llandovery 14 10 0 4 313 195 +118 41 21 7 1 48
3 Carmarthen Quins 14 10 0 4 343 271 +72 43 32 4 1 45
4 Aberavon 14 7 0 7 345 336 +9 49 37 5 2 35
5 Llanelli 14 6 0 8 304 368 −64 41 48 7 1 32
6 Bridgend 14 5 0 9 271 342 −71 29 47 2 3 25
7 Swansea 14 3 1 10 283 331 −48 33 43 3 6 23
8 Neath 14 3 0 11 254 351 −97 36 45 1 3 16
Updated to match(es) played on 26 December 2017. Source: "Principality Premiership". allwalessport.
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Number of tries scored
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Difference between points for and against
After 14 rounds, the two conferences merge and points are reset. Points are given according to league position (1st - 8 points, 2nd - 7 points, 3rd - 6 points etc.)

Phase Two

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After 14 rounds, the two conferences merge and points are reset to zero. However, points are awarded to teams prior to this phase according to league position (1st – 8 points, 2nd – 7 points, 3rd – 6 points etc.). Each team now plays each other team once, either home or away, for a grand total of 29 games over the entire season. There is no play-off system this season and the league leader will be crowned 2017–18 Principality Premiership Champions.

Standings (Phase Two)

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2017–18 Principality Premiership Table (Total)
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB LPP Pts
1 Merthyr (C) 15 13 0 2 477 263 +214 66 29 10 1 8 71
2 Pontypridd 15 12 0 3 457 327 +130 64 42 7 0 7 62
3 Llandovery 15 12 0 3 391 310 +81 48 38 7 1 7 63
4 RGC 1404 15 9 1 5 513 328 +185 68 39 8 4 8 58
5 Carmarthen Quins 15 10 1 4 364 303 +61 47 37 6 3 6 57
6 Ebbw Vale 15 10 0 5 327 237 +90 34 27 3 3 2 48
7 Bedwas 15 8 0 7 413 348 +65 60 42 6 4 6 48
8 Cardiff 15 7 0 8 394 352 +42 50 45 6 4 5 43
9 Newport 15 7 0 8 366 381 −15 44 50 6 5 4 43
10 Bridgend 15 8 0 7 319 336 −17 39 44 2 2 3 39
11 Cross Keys 15 6 0 9 346 394 −48 46 54 8 2 3 37
12 Aberavon 15 6 0 9 285 298 −13 41 36 3 5 5 37
13 Llanelli 15 6 0 9 399 485 −86 52 66 6 2 4 36
14 Swansea 15 2 0 13 255 472 −217 30 65 1 5 2 16
15 Bargoed 15 2 0 13 231 484 −253 31 70 3 1 1 13
16 Neath 15 1 0 14 277 496 −219 33 69 2 5 1 12
Updated to match(es) played on 19 May 2018. Source: "Principality Premiership". allwalessport.
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Number of tries scored
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Difference between points for and against
The two conferences merged after 14 original rounds and points were reset. Points were given according to league position (1st - 8 points, 2nd - 7 points, 3rd - 6 points etc.)
(C) Champion
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