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58-410: The tournament has expanded since 16 sides were featured in the inaugural competition, with 32 men's sides competing in the 2021 tournament. The competition has been played over the course of either two or three days. The first day of the tournament features pool matches, with the top teams in each group advancing to the quarterfinals, along with the best second-placed teams. The final day of the tournament

116-649: A few local newspapers – such as the Yorkshire Post – compiled 'pennants' based on teams' performances, but as the strength of fixture lists varied, it was at best an estimate of a team's performance throughout a season. In 1972 the RFU sanctioned a national knock-out cup – the RFU Club Competition, the predecessor to the Anglo-Welsh Cup – followed first by regional merit tables and then, in

174-501: A proposed U.S. professional league that could have begun play as early as 2014. The first phase of the plan was to involve two preseason exhibitions featuring an "American Barbarians" side that would combine international veterans and young American talent. The "Barbarians" were intended to play matches in August 2013 in the U.S. and London, but those plans fell through, and the matches were indefinitely delayed. In August 2013, Peter Tom,

232-479: A reduced timeframe of 32 weeks (down from 42). The financial impact of the pandemic also caused the salary cap to be temporarily reduced for a maximum of 3 seasons from the 2021–22 season. A moratorium on relegation was also approved in February 2021, meaning no teams would be relegated as a potential consequence of another team receiving more points due to games cancelled because of COVID-19. With this news it

290-465: A thrilling final. Bowling Green's Rocco Mauer led the tournament with 11 tries and was named tournament MVP by Rugby Mag. Sponsors for the tournament included Subway, Geico, Bud Light and Toyota. Source: After the conclusion of the tournament, Rugby Mag selected the following 12 players on the All-Tournament team. These players were chosen based on the impact they had made during

348-582: Is knockout play, featuring the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. The majority of the participating teams are invited to the tournament based on the quality of the school's rugby program and on the school's fan appeal. Certain teams also qualify by winning the Southeastern Rugby Conference, the Las Vegas Invitational, and the new Heart of America Tournament. The inaugural 2010 Collegiate Rugby Championship , at

406-532: Is no promotion. In the 2011–12 season London Welsh won promotion from the Championship but were initially denied promotion under the criteria, reprieving Newcastle Falcons from relegation. However London Welsh were found eligible on appeal and Newcastle were relegated. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic , a moratorium was approved in February 2021 for a halt on top-flight clubs being relegated from

464-413: Is popular with fans, with over 17,000 fans turning out to watch the 2011 tournament, and over 18,000 fans in attendance at the 2012 tournament. This was followed by a twenty-two percent increase in attendance from 2014 to 2015 totaling 24,813 and an even further increase in 2016 to a total attendance of 27,224. In September 2014, Penn Mutual life insurance company announced a multi-year title sponsorship of

522-518: The 2005–06 season due to relegation. Six other clubs have appeared in at least 20 seasons — Saracens , Northampton Saints , Sale Sharks , London Irish , Bristol Bears and Newcastle Falcons . The financial insolvency, expulsion and automatic relegation of Wasps during the 2022–23 season means their record of being ever-present effectively ended at the end of the 2021–22 season . Coventry , Liverpool St Helens , Moseley , Nottingham , Rosslyn Park , Rugby and Waterloo only appeared during

580-758: The European Rugby Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup . The winner of the second division, the RFU Championship is promoted to the Premiership and until 2020, the team finishing at the bottom of the Premiership each season was relegated to the Championship. The competition is regarded as one of the three top-level professional leagues in the Northern and Western Hemispheres , along with

638-535: The Heineken Cup uncertain beyond 2013–14, due to a row between England's Premiership Rugby Limited and France's LNR on one side and the sport's governing bodies on the other, Premiership Rugby Limited explored several moves toward expanding its brand into the United States . In May 2013, Premiership Rugby Limited and U.S.-based RugbyLaw entered into a plan by which the two organisations were to help back

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696-572: The RFU Championship for the 2020–21 season . Premiership Rugby CEO Darren Childs said this punishment was due to Saracens lack of cooperation in a mid-season audit to prove compliance in the 2019–20 season. On 23 January 2020, Lord Dyson 's full report into Saracens' spending was published, it revealed that Saracens had overspent the salary cap by £1.1m in 2016–17, £98,000 in 2017-18 and £906,000 in 2018–19. These included £923,947.63 of property investments between Nigel Wray and three unnamed Saracens players. It also included Saracens claim that

754-581: The Talen Energy Stadium in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania . In 2018–19, although no match was scheduled to take place in the US, the round 6 match between Saracens and Harlequins was the first broadcast on network television in the US of a Premiership Rugby game. The game was shown live on NBC . In 2019–20, and 2020–21 once again no matches were scheduled to take place in

812-648: The Top 14 in France, and the cross-border United Rugby Championship for teams from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy and South Africa. The competition has been played since 1987, and has evolved into the current Premiership system. The current champions are Northampton Saints who won the league in 2024. The governing body of rugby union in England, the Rugby Football Union (RFU), long resisted leagues as it

870-424: The 1996–97 season when the first winners were 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. The start of

928-477: The 2000–01 season brought with it a re-vamping of the season structure. In 2000–2001 an 8-team playoff (the Championship) was introduced. However, the team finishing top of the table at the end of the regular season was still considered English champions ("Premiership title"). Halfway through the 2001–02 season, with Leicester odds-on to win their fourth title in succession, it was controversially decided that

986-423: The 2016–17, 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons, which would have taken them over the senior player cap. They were handed a 35-point deduction for the 2019–20 season and fined £5.3 million. The judgement found that Saracens had been reckless in entering into the arrangements with players without disclosing them to Premiership Rugby. On 18 January 2020, Premiership Rugby announced that Saracens would be relegated to

1044-542: The CRC, Texas "raised an additional $ 10,000 from alumni, landed a new apparel sponsor, and have been contacted by 90 students (including two DBs from the football team) who want to play rugby." The CRC has also given a boost of exposure to lesser known schools with strong rugby programs. For example, when Life University went undefeated in pool play and reached the semifinals of the June 2–3 2012 CRC , Life University's Misplaced Pages page

1102-490: The CRC, where the Premiership coaches scouted talent from the 16 university teams competing. The following athletes who have starred in the CRC and made the All Tournament team have gone on to play for the United States national rugby sevens team or United States national rugby union team in international competitions: Alex Magleby , who became head coach of the United States national rugby sevens team in 2012,

1160-459: The Championship season. Newcastle Falcons, who topped the Championship table at the time of the season's premature end were promoted based on their playing record and would replace Saracens in the Premiership the following season. The 2019–20 Premiership Rugby season recommenced on 14 August and the final was held 24 October 2020. The disruption of the 2019–20 season meant the 2020–21 season commenced 10 weeks late on 20 November 2020 and ran over

1218-558: The Premiership and the RFU Championship. Originally this meant a season-winning Championship club was promoted, replacing the lowest placed Premiership club which was relegated (between 2021 and 2023 promotion continued but no Level 1 club has been relegated). Promotion from the Championship is subject to the Minimum Standards Criteria. If a promotion-winning team does not meet these standards then there

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1276-542: The Premiership are selected from the RFU's Professional Referee Unit. The Professional Referee Unit consists of 15 referees with match appointments decided by PRU management team of ex-international referees Ed Morrison , Brian Campsall and Tony Spreadbury . List of Premiership Referees Source: They are supported by a large team of assistant referees. The Premiership Rugby league season typically runs from September to June and comprises 18 rounds of matches, with each club playing each other home and away. The results of

1334-406: The Premiership beginning that season . As promotion from the Championship would not be stopped, this meant the Premiership would expand to 13 teams in the following year . The moratorium was extended by an additional two seasons in June 2021. New regulations would also include a moratorium on promotion from the Championship in the same season had the Premiership expanded to 14 teams and introduce

1392-479: The Salary Cap was unenforceable under competition law, this defence was rejected. On 28 January 2020, Premiership Rugby applied a further 70 point deduction for the 2019–20 season to ensure Saracens would finish bottom of the league table. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted all elite sports in England in spring 2020. The RFU initially suspended both the Premiership and Championship before eventually cancelling

1450-427: The US, but their relegation from the Premiership at the end of the 2015–16 season scuttled that plan. A new deal was reached with American sports marketing company AEG in 2017 which was intended to see at least one Premiership match taken to the US for four seasons starting in 2017–18. The first match under the new deal was held on 16 September 2017, with Newcastle Falcons taking their home fixture against Saracens to

1508-600: The US. 2018 also saw a revamp of the league's secondary competition with the launch of the Premiership Rugby Shield . In December 2018, it was announced that the Luxembourg based investment advisory firm CVC Capital Partners had bought a 27% stake in Premiership Rugby in a deal worth £200m. A previous offer to purchase a 51% majority share was rejected. The money from the investment

1566-421: The amateur era, whereas Exeter Chiefs , Leeds Tykes , London Welsh , Richmond , Rotherham Titans and Worcester Warriors have only appeared during the professional era. Below, the 2024–25 clubs are listed in bold ; ever-present clubs are listed in bold italics . Years listed are the calendar years in which the seasons ended. All current teams will remain in the league until at least 2024. Referees in

1624-579: The annual championship, which led to the tournament being renamed to the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship. The Collegiate Rugby Championship sparked a mini revolution in college rugby, prompting scores of schools to begin offering a rugby sevens program. One of the schools that benefited from the publicity generated by the CRC tournament has been the University of Texas. Following Texas' participation in

1682-750: The chairman of Leicester Tigers, confirmed that discussions had taken place within Premiership Rugby Limited about the possibility of hosting selected Premiership matches in the US. The first match played in the USA was on 12 March 2016 when London Irish were defeated by Saracens at the Red Bull Arena in the New York Metropolitan Area . This match was intended to be the first of a three-year deal which would have seen London Irish play one home match each season in

1740-497: 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

1798-399: The final. The 2013–14 Aviva Premiership season saw Northampton become the 8th different team to win the trophy. This was achieved when they defeated Leicester Tigers in the semi-final 21–20, thus denying Leicester a 10th Consecutive Final. In the final, they defeated Saracens 20–24 with a try in the last minute of extra time to win the 2013–14 Aviva Premiership . With the future of

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1856-407: The fixture, they will be awarded 4 points, while the team unable to field a matchday squad due to a COVID-19 outbreak will be given 2 points – otherwise, if both teams are impacted by COVID-19, they will each receive 2 points for the affected fixture. Following the completion of the regular season, the top 4 teams enter the play-offs , which are held in June. The top two teams receive home advantage,

1914-520: 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, and higher skill levels among players exposed to regular competition. The fears that leagues would lead to greater violence on

1972-486: The inaugural 2010 CRC was the first time college rugby had been broadcast live on network TV in the US. The honor of first collegiate try ever scored on broadcast TV belongs to Evan Kaufman of Indiana University. NBC Sports Programming President, Jon Miller, described NBC's support of the Collegiate Rugby Championship, "We're hoping to see continued growth in the ratings and the attendance. We like

2030-408: The league by a clear margin, they then faced a three-week wait until the final. Having lost their momentum, they were beaten by second-placed Wasps (who had defeated third-placed Northampton) 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

2088-409: The league leaders hosting the 4th ranked team, and the 2nd place team hosting the 3rd place team. The winners of these semi-finals progress to the final, held at Twickenham Stadium , with the winner of the final being crowned champions. Admittance to the Premiership, which is Level 1 of the men's 106-league English rugby union system , is achieved through a system of promotion and relegation between

2146-558: The league, and automatically relegated, after going into administration . Ahead of the 2023–24 season , London Irish also dropped out of the league, as a result of financial insolvency. A total of 28 clubs have been involved in the top-flight since the league's inception in the 1987–88 season. The most recent club to make its debut in the Premiership was London Welsh , which made their top flight debut in 2012–13. Three clubs — Bath , Gloucester and Leicester Tigers — have appeared in every season to date. Harlequins have only missed

2204-407: The league. Their upcoming fixture against Gloucester on 1 October, was also cancelled. On 6 October, Worcester Warriors were suspended for the rest of the season, relegated from the premiership, and all past and future fixtures for that season expunged. On 17 October 2022, Wasps went into administration and were suspended from the league. Their upcoming fixture against Sale Sharks on 18 October,

2262-460: The matches contribute points to the league as follows : Since the restart of the 2019–20 season, scheduled fixtures which are cancelled because of a COVID-19 outbreak in one of the competing teams will have their outcome and points allocation decided by a Premiership Rugby panel. As of the start of the 2021–22 season, if the fixture cannot be rescheduled, it is recorded as a 0–0 draw. In this situation, if one team would have been able to fulfil

2320-514: The mid-1980s, by national merit tables. One of the casualties of the move to competitive leagues was the loss of some traditional games as the new fixture lists didn't allow time for all of them. The league system has evolved since its start in 1987 when the Courage Leagues were formed – a league pyramid with roughly 1,000 clubs playing in 108 leagues, each with promotion and relegation. In the first season , clubs were expected to arrange

2378-443: The playoff system, only six teams have won both the regular season and playoffs in the same year: Leicester twice in 2000–01 (the first year of the playoffs), 2008–09, 2009–10 and 2021–22 Sale Sharks in 2005–06, Harlequins in 2011–12, Saracens in 2015–16, Exeter in 2019–20, and Northampton Saints in 2023–24 Of all the Premiership teams, Wasps have made a reputation for playing the competition format to perfection, peaking at

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2436-428: The playoffs, in 2002, occurred when league leaders Leicester were still considered English champions, meaning Gloucester's Championship victory was considered secondary. The 2011–12 season saw Harlequins add their name to the trophy on their first attempt, winning 30–23 against the nine-times champions Leicester. Leicester would have to wait until 2012–13 for their 10th championship, where they defeated Northampton in

2494-575: The previous year, devoting 14 hours of coverage to the tournament. California and Arizona were favored after cruising to victories in the first day of pool play, but both were knocked out in quarterfinal upsets. Ultimately, Dartmouth beat Army 32–10 in the final. Due to the strong support from Philadelphia fans and its Pennsylvania-based title sponsorship, Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, the CRC remained in Philadelphia until 2021, when it moved to New Orleans . The Gold Mine on Airline again hosted

2552-408: 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. Conversely, Gloucester have garnered an unfortunate reputation for leading the table at the end of the regular season, only to fall short of winning the Premiership title, losing finals in 2003, 2007, and 2008. Gloucester's single victory in

2610-513: The sport a lot, and we've given it a great time period and a real plumb ( sic ) position on our schedule." Tournaments broadcast by NBC posted respectable TV ratings, with the TV audience larger than that of the NCAA lacrosse championships. Due in part to the exposure from NBC's broadcasts, the tournament attracted several blue chip corporate sponsors, including Geico, Subway, Toyota and Bud Light. The CRC

2668-638: The time known as the Collegiate Championship Invitational (CCI), was held in Columbus, Ohio, at the Columbus Crew Stadium . Utah defeated Cal 31–26 in overtime in a thrilling final. Bowling Green's Rocco Mauer led the tournament with 11 tries and was named tournament MVP by Rugby Mag. The 2011 Collegiate Rugby Championship moved to PPL Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NBC increased their coverage over

2726-411: 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 1994–95 season was the first to be shown live on Sky Sports , a relationship which continued until the 2013–14 season when BT Sport acquired the exclusive rights in a deal which is currently scheduled to end after the 2023–24 season. The league turned professional for

2784-597: The tournament and also based on their potential to succeed at higher levels of rugby. English Premiership (rugby union) 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 union system . Premiership clubs qualify for Europe's two main club competitions,

2842-588: The tournament for the 2022 edition, with television coverage provided by CBS Sports. Having previously been held in late Spring, the 2023 tournament was moved to late April and the venue once again changed to the Maryland SoccerPlex in the Washington, D.C. metro area. The Collegiate Rugby Championship initially succeeded in drawing media attention. NBC recognized that rugby was growing in popularity, participation and interest, and NBC's broadcast of

2900-571: The winners of the 8-team playoff would be crowned English champions. There was an outcry from fans and this proposal was dropped. From the beginning of the 2002–03 season, a new playoff format was introduced to replace the 8-team Championship. The format required the first-placed team in the league to play the winner of a match between the second- and third-placed teams. Critically, the winner of this game (the Premiership Final) would be recognised as English champions. Although Gloucester won

2958-405: The women's tournament featured eight teams. The tournament consisted of four round-robin pools of four teams. All sixteen teams progressed to the knockout stage. The top two teams from each group progressed to the quarter-finals in the championship competition. The bottom two teams from each group progressed to the quarter-finals in the challenger competition. Utah defeated Cal 31-26 in overtime in

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3016-476: Was a groundbreaking event in college rugby for several reasons—it was the first ever rugby sevens championship contested among college rugby programs, and it was the first time college rugby was broadcast live on network TV. This was the only year that the tournament was called the "Collegiate Championship Invitational." The following year, the tournament changed its name to the " Collegiate Rugby Championship ." The men's tournament featured sixteen teams, whereas

3074-477: Was also cancelled. On 28 October, Wasps were suspended for the rest of the season, relegated from the premiership, and all past and future fixtures for that season expunged. On 6 June 2023, London Irish were suspended from the Premiership after missing a deadline to pay players and staff. Irish subsequently went into administration on 7 June. The Premiership began the recent 2022–23 season with 13 clubs, but both Wasps and Worcester Warriors were removed from

3132-453: Was also confirmed that the league's minimum standards criteria for promotion would be reviewed as would league structure from the 2021–22 season. The new structure extended the moratorium on relegation for a further two-years. A playoff between the top team in the Championship and the bottom team in the Premiership is also introduced in the 2023–24 season. On 26 September 2022, Worcester Warriors went into administration and were suspended from

3190-520: Was believed that the introduction of leagues would increase 'dirty' play and put pressure on clubs to pay their players (thereby contravening the amateur ethos). Instead, clubs arranged their own fixtures and had traditional games. The only organised tournaments were the County Cups and County Championship – the former played by clubs and the latter by County representative teams e.g. 1980- 81 Rugby Union County Championship . The Daily Telegraph and

3248-401: Was planned to be used to improve facilities at clubs and grow the game globally. In March 2019, allegations emerged that Saracens may have broken the league's salary cap . In June, Premiership Rugby announced that they would investigate the allegations. In November 2019, Saracens were found to have been in breach of the salary cap regulations due to failure to disclose player payments in

3306-525: Was previously head coach of Dartmouth , the team he coached to victory at the 2011 Collegiate Rugby Championship and 2012 Collegiate Rugby Championship. Collegiate Championship Invitational The USA Sevens Rugby Collegiate Championship Invitational, (also now referred to as the 2010 Collegiate Rugby Championship ), was a rugby union sevens tournament. The competition was held from 4–6 June at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio . The CCI

3364-524: Was viewed by 9,800 people that weekend. Despite the fact that the CRC tournament has only been around since 2010, the tournament has seen some notable rivalries: The Collegiate Rugby Championship has been notable for its ability to showcase the emerging stars of US rugby. In 2012, representatives from all 12 clubs in the English Premiership (the top professional league in England) attended

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