British and Irish Cup
Current season or competition: 2013–14 British and Irish Cup | |
| File:British & Irish Cup.jpg Competition logo | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 2009 |
| Inaugural season | 2009–10 |
| Number of teams | 24 |
| Nations |  England Ireland Scotland Wales |
| Holders | Leinster A (2012–13) |
| Most titles | Cornish Pirates Bristol Rugby Munster A Leinster A (1 title) |
The British and Irish Cup is an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009–10 season and the fourth edition of the competition took place during the 2012–13 season. A total of 24 teams from England (12), Scotland (3), Wales (6), and Ireland (3) competed in the inaugural competition. This remained the case for the first three seasons, though the format has varied slightly in each season. For the 2012–13 season, the competition was expanded to 32 teams: England (12), Scotland (4), Wales (12), and Ireland (4) and for the first time, pool stage games were played on a "home and away" basis. For the 2013–14 seasons the number of teams competing is reduced to 24 with the Welsh entrants reduced from twelve to four.
Four different clubs have won the competition in each of the years that have been run to date: Cornish Pirates and Bristol from England, and Munster A and Leinster A from Ireland. Similarly, there have been four different runners-up: Munster A from Ireland, Bedford Blues and Newcastle Falcons from England, and Cross Keys from Wales. Munster A are the only team to play in two finals, and Ayr are the only rugby club from Scotland to reach the quarter–finals stage.
Finals
| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | Cornish Pirates
|
23–14 | Munster A
|
Recreation Ground, Camborne | 4,240 |
| 2010-11 | Bristol
|
17–14 | Bedford Blues
|
Memorial Ground, Bristol | 4,375 |
| 2011-12 | Munster A
|
31–12 | Cross Keys
|
Musgrave Park, Cork | 3,000 |
| 2012-13 | Leinster A
|
18–17 | Newcastle Falcons
|
Kingston Park, Newcastle | 3,838 |
| 2013-14 |
Seasons
2009–10 Competition
The inaugural competition was contested by 24 teams:
- 12 teams from the RFU Championship, the second tier of English rugby
- 3 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
- 3 Scottish sides, 2 top clubs from the Scottish Premiership and Gael Force, a side made up of a combination of National Academy players
- 6 top clubs from the Principality Premiership, the second tier of Welsh rugby.
The teams were divided into four pools of six, playing over five weekends during the Autumn International and Six Nations windows, with semi-finals on 24 and 25 April and the final on 16 May.[1][2]
Each team played each of the other five teams in its pool once (home or away). Two English teams (Cornish Pirates and Doncaster) and two Irish teams (Munster A and Ulster Ravens) topped their respective pools leading to an all-English semi-final and an all-Irish semi-final. Cornish Pirates defeated Munster A in the inaugural final.
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 25 April 2010 - Camborne | ||||||
| Cornish Pirates | 43 | |||||
| 16 May 2010 - Camborne | ||||||
| Doncaster | 5 | |||||
| Cornish Pirates | 23 | |||||
| 24 April 2010 - Thomond Park | ||||||
| Munster A | 14 | |||||
| Munster A | 27 | |||||
| Ulster Ravens | 3 | |||||
2010–11 Competition
The allocation of teams for the second season was very similar to that of the first:
- 12 teams from the RFU Championship, the second tier of English rugby
- 3 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
- 3 top clubs from the Scottish Premiership, the second tier of Scottish rugby
- 6 top clubs from the Principality Premiership, the second tier of Welsh rugby.
The format closely mirrored that of the first season, the only difference being the introduction of a quarter final stage
The teams were divided into four pools of six, playing over five weekends during the Autumn International and Six Nations windows, with quarter-finals on 5 or 6 March, semi-finals on 23 April and the final on 7 May. Each team played each of the other five teams in its pool once (home or away), with the top two teams in each pool qualifying for the knock-out stages:
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 5 March 2011 - Sardis Road | ||||||||||
| Pontypridd | 12 | |||||||||
| 23 April 2011 - Sardis Road | ||||||||||
| Llanelli | 10 | |||||||||
| Pontypridd | 25 | |||||||||
| 6 March 2011 - Memorial Stadium | ||||||||||
| Bristol | 36 | |||||||||
| Bristol | 29 | |||||||||
| 7 May 2011 - Memorial Stadium | ||||||||||
| Ayr | 19 | |||||||||
| Bristol | 17 | |||||||||
| 5 March 2011 - Goldington Road | ||||||||||
| Bedford Blues | 14 | |||||||||
| Bedford Blues | 50 | |||||||||
| 23 April 2011 - Goldington Road | ||||||||||
| Leinster A | 15 | |||||||||
| Bedford Blues | 43 | |||||||||
| 5 March 2011 - Sixways Stadium | ||||||||||
| Worcester Warriors | 27 | |||||||||
| Worcester Warriors | 57 | |||||||||
| Moseley | 15 | |||||||||
2011–12 Competition
The allocation of teams for the third season was identical to that of the second season:
- 12 teams from the RFU Championship, the second tier of English rugby
- 3 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
- 3 top clubs from the Scottish Premiership, the second tier of Scottish rugby
- 6 top clubs from the Principality Premiership, the second tier of Welsh rugby.
The pool stage saw a change in format and consisted of six pools of four teams playing cross-pool matches, giving each team two home and two away matches. Matches between English teams were played mid-week. Pool matches took place from 21 September to 18 December. The top team from each pool qualified for the quarter-finals, together with the two runners–up with the best records.[3][4]
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 22 January 2012 – Donnybrook | ||||||||||
| Leinster A | 32 | |||||||||
| 6 April 2012 – RDS | ||||||||||
| Pontypridd | 0 | |||||||||
| Leinster A | 29 | |||||||||
| 20 January 2012 – Ravenhill | ||||||||||
| Munster A | 36 | |||||||||
| Ulster Ravens | 9 | |||||||||
| 27 April 2012 – Musgrave Park | ||||||||||
| Munster A | 20 | |||||||||
| Munster A | 31 | |||||||||
| 21 January 2012 – Pandy Park | ||||||||||
| Cross Keys | 12 | |||||||||
| Cross Keys | 32 | |||||||||
| 7 April 2012 – Pandy Park | ||||||||||
| Llanelli | 8 | |||||||||
| Cross Keys | 20 | |||||||||
| 22 January 2012 – Mennaye Field | ||||||||||
| Cornish Pirates | 16 | |||||||||
| Cornish Pirates | 33 | |||||||||
| Nottingham | 3 | |||||||||
2012–13 Competition
The competition was considerably revamped, with expansion from 24 to 32 teams playing each other home and away in the pool stages (previously, pool matches were played home or away). The allocation of teams for the fourth season was therefore:
- 12 teams from the RFU Championship, the second tier of English rugby
- 4 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
- 4 top clubs from the Scottish Premiership, the second tier of Scottish rugby
- 12 clubs from the Principality Premiership, the second tier of Welsh rugby.
The pool stage saw a considerable change in format and consisted of eight pools of four teams, giving each team three home and three away matches. Pool matches took place on the same weekends as the Heineken and Amlin Cups. The top team from each pool qualified for the quarter-finals.[5]
The final round of pool matches, due to be played on the weekend of 18/19/20 January, was considerably disrupted. Of 16 matches, 7 were postponed: Connacht Eagles v Newport was not played until 27 April, the weekend of the semi-finals.
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 6 April 2013 - Goldington Road | ||||||||||
| Bedford Blues | 32 | |||||||||
| 27 April 2013 - Goldington Road | ||||||||||
| Llanelli | 18 | |||||||||
| Bedford Blues | 15 | |||||||||
| 5 April 2013 - Kingston Park | ||||||||||
| Newcastle Falcons | 18 | |||||||||
| Newcastle Falcons | 72 | |||||||||
| 17 May 2013 – Kingston Park | ||||||||||
| Nottingham | 17 | |||||||||
| Newcastle Falcons | 17 | |||||||||
| 7 April 2013 - Mennaye Field | ||||||||||
| Leinster A | 18 | |||||||||
| Cornish Pirates | 9 | |||||||||
| 26 April 2013 - Garryowen FC | ||||||||||
| Munster A | 10 | |||||||||
| Munster A | 15 | |||||||||
| 7 April 2013 - Memorial Stadium | ||||||||||
| Leinster A | 17 | |||||||||
| Bristol | 26 | |||||||||
| Leinster A | 30 | |||||||||
2013–14 Competition
The number of teams playing in the fifth competition are to be reduced from 32 to 24, with a reduction of Welsh teams from twelve to four.
- 12 teams from the RFU Championship, the second tier of English rugby
- 4 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
- 4 top clubs from the Scottish Premiership, the second tier of Scottish rugby
- 4 clubs from the Principality Premiership, the second tier of Welsh rugby.
The 12 Premiership Teams participated in regional play-offs which saw Aberavon, Cross Keys, Llanelli, and Pontypridd qualify for the competition proper.
The pool stage will consist of six pools of four teams, giving each team three home and three away matches. The top team from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals, along with two runners-up with the best playing records.[6]
Teams
| England |
2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | Ireland |
2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | Scotland |
2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | Wales |
2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford Blues | • | • | • | • | • | Leinster A | • | • | • | • | • | Ayr | • | • | • | • | Aberavon | • | • | • | • | ||
| Birmingham & Solihull | • | • | Munster A | • | • | • | • | • | Gael Force | • | Cardiff | • | • | ||||||||||
| Bristol | • | • | • | • | • | Ulster Ravens | • | • | • | • | • | Heriot's FP | • | Llanelli | • | • | • | • | • | ||||
| Cornish Pirates | • | • | • | • | • | Connacht Eagles | • | • | Currie | • | • | Neath | • | • | • | • | |||||||
| Coventry | • | Melrose | • | • | • | Newport | • | • | • | ||||||||||||||
| Doncaster | • | • | • | • | Dundee HSFP | • | Pontypridd | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||||||
| Exeter Chiefs | • | Gala | • | • | Llandovery | • | • | ||||||||||||||||
| London Welsh | • | • | • | • | Stirling County | • | • | Swansea | • | • | • | ||||||||||||
| Moseley | • | • | • | • | • | Edinburgh Academicals | • | Cross Keys | • | • | • | ||||||||||||
| Nottingham | • | • | • | • | • | Bedwas | • | ||||||||||||||||
| Plymouth Albion | • | • | • | • | • | Bridgend Ravens | • | ||||||||||||||||
| Rotherham | • | • | • | • | • | Carmarthen Quins | • | ||||||||||||||||
| Esher | • | • | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Worcester Warriors | • | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leeds Carnegie | • | • | • | ||||||||||||||||||||
| London Scottish | • | • | • | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Jersey | • | • | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Newcastle Falcons | • | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ealing Trailfinders | • | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Geography
Current season participants in bold.
References
- ^ "New British & Irish Cup announced". RTE Sport. 6 May 2009. Archived from the original on 9 May 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Home unions devise British & Irish Cup". The Daily Telegraph. 6 May 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
- ^ http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/rugby-news/2011/06/20/welsh-clubs-discover-british-and-irish-cup-opponents-91466-28904364/
- ^ http://cornish-pirates.com/rugby/fixtures-and-results/british-irish-cup/
- ^ "B&I Cup set to arrive in Connacht". 11 May 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
- ^ "British & Irish Cup undergoes restructure ahead of new season". RFU. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
- ^ "London Welsh to stay at Kassam Stadium with Oxford Utd". BBC. 22 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
External links
- Unofficial British and Irish Cup website - latest news, teams etc
- Results from the BBC
- rugbyweek.com - BritishandIrishCup