Premiership Cup New Format

[Rugbygramps]

Premiership Clubs will face Championship sides with competition starting September 8th.
Pool stages will take place over 5 consecutive weekends , semi finals 9th -11 February and final 15-17 March.

24 teams will be split into 4 pools of 6 based on league standings at the end of the current season

[wigworth]

I like the idea.

[loretta]

I like the idea too, but what does that mean for the make up of the 2 leagues? 12 and 12? Is someone coming up and, if so, how when no clubs have permission? I’m afraid it’s the usual quality of information and preparation we get from the governing bodies!

[CrumblingTerrace]

Great to see the Premiership and the Championship working together!

[Rugbygramps]

I like the idea too, but what does that mean for the make up of the 2 leagues? 12 and 12? Is someone coming up and, if so, how when no clubs have permission? I’m afraid it’s the usual quality of information and preparation we get from the governing bodies!

I think they are looking at a 13 team championship.

BTW I’ve not seen this mentioned anywhere like the RFU or Premiership rugby yet.

[Not a jock]

As an aside, how does having an odd number of teams in a league help to relieve fixture clashes with internationals? Granted, every team will have two weeks off at some stage of the season but some coincide with international matches, some don't, so not entirely fair if you have more than the average number ofinternational players in your squad.

This season has shown that all teams are (nearly) capable of beating everyone else on their day, especially if one team is more severely weakened by international call ups.

To mitigate the fixture congestion and fund the pro club game in the top two leagues, how about the RFU pays the clubs the match fees etc for the players selected for England and then the clubs pay some of those fees to the players? This would encourage Prem clubs to develop Eng qualified players and for the players to stay in England.

[GB72]

As an aside, how does having an odd number of teams in a league help to relieve fixture clashes with internationals? Granted, every team will have two weeks off at some stage of the season but some coincide with international matches, some don't, so not entirely fair if you have more than the average number ofinternational players in your squad.

This season has shown that all teams are (nearly) capable of beating everyone else on their day, especially if one team is more severely weakened by international call ups.

To mitigate the fixture congestion and fund the pro club game in the top two leagues, how about the RFU pays the clubs the match fees etc for the players selected for England and then the clubs pay some of those fees to the players? This would encourage Prem clubs to develop Eng qualified players and for the players to stay in England.

This has always confused me. The club pays the player to play (ideally) X amount of matches a season. The player then plays, lets say, 10 less matches for the club and plays those matches for England instead but the RFU pays the players for that. It makes no sense. The player is still playing the same amount of matches, just playing some for another team, and yet gets paid twice for those weeks that they play for England.

The compulsory rest also is confusing. If a player plays every match in a season for a club, they can and the club manages their rest, recovery etc. As soon they play some of those matches for England (no more matches, just for someone else) the club management of recovery is not good enough and they have compulsory time off.

[Rugbygramps]

As an aside, how does having an odd number of teams in a league help to relieve fixture clashes with internationals? Granted, every team will have two weeks off at some stage of the season but some coincide with international matches, some don't, so not entirely fair if you have more than the average number ofinternational players in your squad.

This season has shown that all teams are (nearly) capable of beating everyone else on their day, especially if one team is more severely weakened by international call ups.

To mitigate the fixture congestion and fund the pro club game in the top two leagues, how about the RFU pays the clubs the match fees etc for the players selected for England and then the clubs pay some of those fees to the players? This would encourage Prem clubs to develop Eng qualified players and for the players to stay in England.

This has always confused me. The club pays the player to play (ideally) X amount of matches a season. The player then plays, lets say, 10 less matches for the club and plays those matches for England instead but the RFU pays the players for that. It makes no sense. The player is still playing the same amount of matches, just playing some for another team, and yet gets paid twice for those weeks that they play for England.

The compulsory rest also is confusing. If a player plays every match in a season for a club, they can and the club manages their rest, recovery etc. As soon they play some of those matches for England (no more matches, just for someone else) the club management of recovery is not good enough and they have compulsory time off.

The answer to that is central contracts. But let’s not reopen that can of worms.

[Tykger]

Please forgive my arithmetic. Is the 24th club the returning Worcester ? If so what seeding will they be given ?

[Rugbygramps]

Please forgive my arithmetic. Is the 24th club the returning Worcester ? If so what seeding will they be given ?

There are currently 11 teams in the premiership and 12 teams in the championship.
I’m assuming that the 24th team will either be Wasps, or alternatively an extra side may move up from Nat. 1

Worcester, or what’s left of them will combine with Stourbridge in level 5

[Tykger]

Please forgive my arithmetic. Is the 24th club the returning Worcester ? If so what seeding will they be given ?

There are currently 11 teams in the premiership and 12 teams in the championship.
I’m assuming that the 24th team will either be Wasps, or alternatively an extra side may move up from Nat. 1

Worcester, or what’s left of them will combine with Stourbridge in level 5

Thanks. I'd lost track of where Wasps and Worcester had got to in terms of come backs. Presumably we can work out the four groups from end of season tables. As things stand we may have Chiefs and Bath i think. Could be interesting

[Old Hob]

Because this is involved with the Championship I assume this is seen as a development competition and a direct replacement for the old cup; particularly as in occurs during the six nations and senior players will be away? Does anyone know differently?

[Rugbygramps]

Because this is involved with the Championship I assume this is seen as a development competition and a direct replacement for the old cup; particularly as in occurs during the six nations and senior players will be away? Does anyone know differently?

No real details as yet. The dates mentioned are during RWC and 6 nations.

In my mind premiership v premiership will be a chance for clubs to field stronger teams. Premiership v championship I would imagine the Premiership clubs will field more development sides

[Old Hob]

Perhaps the cup will be useful to run the rule over a few championship players, too.

[sk 88]

Because this is involved with the Championship I assume this is seen as a development competition and a direct replacement for the old cup; particularly as in occurs during the six nations and senior players will be away? Does anyone know differently?

It starts the same day as the RWC and runs for 5 weeks, which is the group stage for both comps. The Premiership proper starts at the RWC QF stage. So the group games will be used in lieu of pre-season games.

It then reconvenes in the first 6N block and finishes in the second block with the semi & final.