2016–17 RFU Championship
| 2016–17 RFU Championship | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  England Jersey |
| Date | 3 September 2016 – May 2017 |
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← 2015–16
2017–18 →
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The 2016–17 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, will be the eighth season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, the second tier of the English rugby union league system run by the Rugby Football Union. It is contested by eleven English clubs and one from Jersey in the Channel Islands. This will be the fourth and final year of the competition's sponsorship with Greene King Brewery.[1] The twelve teams in the RFU Championship also compete in the British and Irish Cup, along with clubs from Ireland and Wales. Some matches in the RFU Championship are broadcast on Sky Sports.
Structure
The Championship's structure has all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis. The play-off structure will remain the same as the previous year.[2] The top four teams at the end of the home-and-way season qualify for the promotion play-offs which follow a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system. The winners have to meet the RFU's Minimum Standards Criteria in order to be promoted to the English Premiership. There is no promotion if a ground fails to meet the criteria.[3] There is no relegation play-off; the bottom team is automatically relegated.[2] In 2015 the RFU increased the annual funding to over £500,000 per club, an agreement which will last until 2020.[4] Despite this, Cornish Pirates stated more money was needed in RFU grants to support a fully professional second tier.[5]
Teams
After spending ten seasons in the Championship Moseley were relegated following their last place finish, last season. They are replaced by Richmond, who won the National League 1 and return to the second tier for the first time since their promotion in 1997.[6] Richmond subsequently entered administrated and dropped eight tiers.[6] As a result, Richmond stated that they would remain semi-professional and not sign any professional players despite the RFU Championship being fully professional.[6] London Irish, one of the original founders of the professional English Premiership, join the league after being relegated from the 2015–16 Aviva Premiership after finishing bottom of the table.[7]
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| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Try bonus | Loss bonus | Points | |||||||
| 1 | Bedford Blues | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Cornish Pirates | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Doncaster Knights | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Ealing Trailfinders | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Jersey | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | London Irish | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | London Scottish | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | London Welsh | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Nottingham Rugby | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Richmond | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Rotherham Titans | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Yorkshire Carnegie | ||||||||||||||||
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| Green background are promotion play-off places. Pink background is the relegation place. Updated: 30 April 2016 Source: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
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Fixtures
Fixtures will be announced later in the year
Play-offs
Semi-finals
The semi-finals follow a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system – with the games being played over two-legs and the higher placed team choosing which leg they play at home.
Final
The final is played over two legs – with the higher placed team deciding who plays at home in the first leg.
See also
Notes
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