Number of teams 20 | Inaugural season 2009–10 | |
Instituted 2009; 8 years ago (2009) | ||
The British and Irish Cup is an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009–10 season and the eight competition takes place in the 2016–17 season.
Contents
- 200910 Competition
- 201011 Competition
- 201112 Competition
- 201213 Competition
- 201314 Competition
- 201415 Competition
- 201516 Competition
- 201617 Competition
- Geography
- References
A total of twenty-four teams from England (twelve), Ireland (three), Scotland (three) and Wales (six) 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 thirty-two teams; England (twelve), Ireland (four), Scotland (four), and Wales (twelve) and for the first time, pool stage games were played on a "home and away" basis. For the 2013–14 season the number of teams competing was reduced to twenty-four, with the Welsh entrants reduced from twelve to four, and the following season the competition was reduced to twenty teams with the withdrawal of the Scottish clubs.
As of the 2015-16 season, Welsh teams will be represented by regional Premiership Select sides from the four Welsh regions
2009–10 Competition
The inaugural competition was contested by 24 teams:
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.
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.
2010–11 Competition
The allocation of teams for the second season was very similar to that of the first:
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:
2011–12 Competition
The allocation of teams for the third season was identical to that of the second season:
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.
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:
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.
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.
2013–14 Competition
The number of teams playing in the fifth competition was reduced from thirty-two to twenty-four, with a reduction of Welsh teams from twelve to four:
The twelve Principality Premiership Teams participated in regional play-offs which saw Aberavon, Cross Keys, Llanelli, and Pontypridd qualify for the competition proper.
The pool stage consisted of six pools of four teams, giving each team three home and three away matches. The top team from each group qualified for the quarter-finals, along with two runners-up with the best playing records. The ranking criteria of the quarter finalists has been altered slightly from earlier seasons. Previously, the six pool winners were seeded 1-6 and the two runners up as 7 and 8. This meant that the best runners-up were automatically ranked 7 and 8 even if they had a better playing record than some of the teams ranked 1-6. This is no longer the case.
The draw for the knockout stage was carried out on 27 January 2014. The top four seeds (Leinster A, Leeds Carnegie, Cornish Pirates and Bristol) had home advantage in the quarter-finals. On 14 April, it was announced that the final would be played at the home of the winner of the Pontypridd / Leinster A semi-final. This game ended as a 22 all draw after extra time; Leinster won on tries scored (3 – 1). Leinster A beat Leeds Carnegie 44 – 17 in the final and retained the cup they won in the previous season – the first team to win the cup for a second time.
2014–15 Competition
The number of teams playing in the sixth competition is reduced from twenty-four to twenty with the withdrawal of the Scottish teams:
The twelve Principality Premiership Teams participating in regional play-offs which saw Aberavon, Carmarthen Quins, Cross Keys and Pontypridd qualify for the competition proper. The Scottish clubs withdrew because of an increase in the number of the pool matches before Christmas, from four to six. Scottish Rugby felt that Scottish teams would not be able to compete fully in both the British and Irish cup and the BT Premiership; the premier competition for clubs in Scotland.
2015–16 Competition
Remaining with 20 teams.
Five pools of 4 teams, with the pool winners and the top three runners up going through to the knockout competition.
2016–17 Competition
Remaining with 20 teams.
Five pools of 4 teams, with the pool winners and the top three runners up going through to the knockout competition.
Geography
Current season participants in bold.