Countries England Runners-up Northampton Saints Matches played 135 | Champions Leicester Tigers Relegated London Welsh | |
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Date 1 September 2012 – 25 May 2013 | ||
The 2012–13 Aviva Premiership was the 26th season of the top flight of the English domestic rugby union competitions and the third to be sponsored by Aviva. On 14 June, Premiership Rugby, the competition organisers, announced through their Facebook page that the official fixture list would be released at 2pm on 4 July 2012.
Contents
The reigning champions entering the season were Harlequins, who claimed their first-ever top-flight title after defeating Leicester Tigers in the final, having also finished atop the league table in the regular season. London Welsh are the newcomers for this season, after having earned promotion by winning the 2011–12 RFU Championship play-offs against Cornish Pirates, and following a lengthy appeal process over a supposed lack of fulfillment of the Premiership's minimum standards criteria. Newcastle Falcons, having finished bottom of the 2011–12 table, were relegated to the RFU Championship following the appeal.
For the second consecutive season, significant changes were made to the Premiership's salary cap. Last season, "academy credits" were introduced, giving each team a £30,000 cap credit for each of up to eight home-grown players in the senior squad. This season, the team cap rose for the first time since the 2008–09 season, when it was increased from £2.2 million to £4 million. The new cap is £4.26 million before academy credits and up to £4.5 million with credits. In addition, each team is allowed to sign one player whose salary does not count against the cap.
Teams
Pre-Season
Following a lengthy appeal, London Welsh successfully gained promotion to the Premiership, having contested the Professional Game Boards recommendation to refuse them entry based on the Minimum Standards Criteria. This meant that Newcastle Falcons were relegated, following their confirmation that they would not appeal the new decision.
The 2012 edition of the Premiership Rugby Sevens Series began on 13 July 2012 at The Stoop, continued on 20 July at Edgeley Park and 26 July at Kingsholm. This was the first opportunity of the season for any of the teams competing in the Premiership to win a trophy. The finals were held on 3 August 2012 at The Recreation Ground and the Series was won by London Irish.
Regular Season
Premiership Rugby announced the fixture list on 4 July 2012 at 2pm. As with previous seasons, Round 1 will include the London Double Header.
Fixtures as per Premiership Rugby Match Centre.
Round 22
All games in Round 22 kicked off at 15.00 on 4 May 2013, so as to not give any team a potential advantage with regards to knowing how to achieve a play-off berth, Heineken Cup place, or safety from relegation.
Semi-finals
The semi-finals were played on the weekend of 11/12 May 2013. As with previous seasons, the play-offs followed a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system, with the games being played at the home ground of the higher placed teams.
Final
The final was contested at Twickenham on 25 May 2013 between Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints with Leicester winning 37-17. Northampton captain Dylan Hartley was sent off for using foul and abusive language just before half-time after calling referee Wayne Barnes a "f*****g cheat" . This was the first time a player has ever been red carded in a Premiership Final as was said by the commentators during the match.