2011–12 Premiership Rugby

2011–12 Aviva Premiership
Countries	England
Date	3 September 2011 – 26 May 2012
Champions	Harlequins (1st title)
Runners-up	Leicester Tigers
Relegated	Newcastle Falcons
Matches played	135
Attendance	1,755,073 (average 13,001 per match)
Tries scored	488 (average 3.6 per match)
Top point scorer	Tom Homer (London Irish) (278 points)
Top try scorer	Rob Miller (Sale) (10 tries)
Official website
www.premiershiprugby.com
← 2010–11 2012–13 →

The 2011–12 Aviva Premiership was the 25th season of the top flight English domestic rugby union competition and the second one to be sponsored by Aviva. The reigning champions entering the season were Saracens, who had claimed their first title after defeating Leicester Tigers in the 2011 final. Worcester Warriors had been promoted as champions from the 2010–11 RFU Championship at the first attempt.

Harlequins won their first title after defeating Leicester Tigers in the final at Twickenham having also topped the regular season table. Newcastle Falcons were relegated on the last day of the season. It was the second time that Newcastle have been relegated from the top flight since the leagues began and the first time since the 1993–94 Premiership Rugby season.

As usual, round 1 included the London Double Header at Twickenham, the eighth instance since its inception in 2004.

This season saw the first major change in the Premiership's salary cap, which at the time stood at £4 million per team. In what is now a permanent feature of the cap system, academy credits were introduced. Each team receives a £30,000 credit for every home-grown player in their senior squad, with a maximum of eight such credits. In addition, a standard provision of the cap system that applies only in seasons that run up against the Rugby World Cup provided each team with a credit of £30,000 for each senior squad player that participated in the World Cup.^[1]

Twelve teams compete in the league – the top eleven teams from the previous season and Worcester Warriors who were promoted from the 2010–11 RFU Championship after a top flight absence of one year. They replaced Leeds Carnege who were relegated after two years in the top flight.

Bath

Exeter

Gloucester

Harlequins

Leicester

L. Irish

L. Wasps

Newcastle

Northampton

Sale

Saracens

Worcester

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2011–12 Aviva Premiership Teams

Club	Director of Rugby/Head Coach	Captain	Kit Supplier	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bath	Ian McGeechan	Stuart Hooper	Puma	The Recreation Ground	12,300	Bath
Exeter Chiefs	Rob Baxter	Tommy Hayes	Samurai Sportswear	Sandy Park	10,744	Exeter
Gloucester	Vacant	Luke Narraway	KooGa	Kingsholm	16,500	Gloucester
Harlequins	Conor O'Shea	Chris Robshaw	O'Neills	Twickenham Stoop[a]	14,600	Twickenham, Greater London
Leicester Tigers	Richard Cockerill	Geordan Murphy	Cotton Traders	Welford Road	24,000	Leicester
London Irish	Toby Booth	Clarke Dermody	ISC	Madejski Stadium[b]	24,250	Reading
London Wasps	Dai Young	Marco Wentzel	Canterbury	Adams Park	10,516	High Wycombe
Newcastle Falcons	Peter Russell	James Hudson	Orion	Kingston Park	10,200	Newcastle upon Tyne
Northampton Saints	Jim Mallinder	Dylan Hartley	BURRDA	Franklin's Gardens	13,591	Northampton
Sale Sharks	Bryan Redpath	Sam Tuitupou	Cotton Traders	Edgeley Park	10,852	Stockport, Greater Manchester
Saracens	Mark McCall	Steve Borthwick	Nike	Vicarage Road[c]	19,920	Watford
Worcester Warriors	Richard Hill	Shaun Perry	Cotton Traders	Sixways Stadium	12,068	Worcester

The 2011 edition of the Premiership Rugby Sevens Series began on 15 July 2011 at The Recreation Ground, continued on 22 July at Franklin's Gardens and 29 July at Edgeley Park. 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 5 August 2011 at The Stoop and the Series was won by Newcastle Falcons.^[2]

As in previous seasons, the top four teams in the Premiership table, following the conclusion of the regular season, contest the play-off semi-finals in a 1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd format, with the higher ranking team having home advantage. The two winners of the semi-finals then meet in the Premiership Final at Twickenham on 26 May 2012.

Team details

FB 15 Mike Brown RW 14 Tom Williams OC 13 George Lowe IC 12 Jordan Turner-Hall LW 11 Sam Smith FH 10 Nick Evans SH 9 Karl Dickson N8 8 Nick Easter OF 7 Chris Robshaw (c) BF 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu RL 5 George Robson LL 4 Ollie Kohn TP 3 James Johnston HK 2 Joe Gray LP 1 Joe Marler Replacements: HK 16 Rob Buchanan PR 17 Mark Lambert PR 18 Will Collier LK 19 Tomás Vallejos N8 20 Tom Guest SH 21 Richard Bolt FH 22 Rory Clegg CE 23 Matt Hopper Coach: Conor O'Shea FB 15 Ben Foden RW 14 Chris Ashton OC 13 George Pisi IC 12 James Downey LW 11 Paul Diggin FH 10 Ryan Lamb SH 9 Lee Dickson (c) N8 8 Roger Wilson OF 7 Phil Dowson BF 6 James Craig RL 5 Christian Day LL 4 Mark Sorenson TP 3 Brian Mujati HK 2 Andy Long LP 1 Soane Tongaʻuiha Replacements: HK 16 Ross McMillan PR 17 Alex Waller PR 18 Paul Doran-Jones FL 19 Ben Nutley FL 20 Teimana Harrison SH 21 Martin Roberts FH 22 Stephen Myler CE 23 Tom May Coach: Jim Mallinder

Team details

FB 15 Geordan Murphy (c) RW 14 Horacio Agulla OC 13 Manu Tuilagi IC 12 Anthony Allen LW 11 Alesana Tuilagi FH 10 George Ford SH 9 Ben Youngs N8 8 Thomas Waldrom OF 7 Julian Salvi BF 6 Steve Mafi RL 5 Geoff Parling LL 4 George Skivington TP 3 Dan Cole HK 2 George Chuter LP 1 Marcos Ayerza Replacements: HK 16 Tom Youngs PR 17 Logovi'i Mulipola PR 18 Martin Castrogiovanni LK 19 Graham Kitchener FL 20 Craig Newby SH 21 Sam Harrison FH 22 Billy Twelvetrees WG 23 Scott Hamilton Coach: Richard Cockerill FB 15 Alex Goode RW 14 David Strettle OC 13 Owen Farrell IC 12 Brad Barritt LW 11 Chris Wyles FH 10 Charlie Hodgson SH 9 Neil de Kock N8 8 Ernst Joubert OF 7 Will Fraser BF 6 Jackson Wray RL 5 Mouritz Botha LL 4 Steve Borthwick (c) TP 3 Matt Stevens HK 2 Schalk Brits LP 1 Rhys Gill Replacements: HK 16 Jamie George PR 17 John Smit PR 18 Carlos Nieto LK 19 Hugh Vyvyan LK 20 George Kruis SH 21 Richard Wigglesworth CE 22 Adam Powell WG 23 James Short Coach: Mark McCall

Team details

Harlequins Leicester Tigers FB 15 Mike Brown RW 14 Tom Williams OC 13 George Lowe IC 12 Jordan Turner-Hall LW 11 Ugo Monye FH 10 Nick Evans  76' SH 9 Danny Care N8 8 Nick Easter OF 7 Chris Robshaw (c) BF 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu  72' RL 5 George Robson LL 4 Ollie Kohn TP 3 James Johnston HK 2 Joe Gray LP 1 Joe Marler Replacements: HK 16 Rob Buchanan PR 17 Mark Lambert PR 18 Will Collier LK 19 Tomás Vallejos N8 20 Tom Guest  72' SH 21 Karl Dickson FH 22 Rory Clegg  76' CE 23 Matt Hopper Coach: Conor O'Shea FB 15 Geordan Murphy (c) RW 14 Horacio Agulla  73' OC 13 Manu Tuilagi IC 12 Anthony Allen LW 11 Alesana Tuilagi FH 10 George Ford  73' SH 9 Ben Youngs N8 8 Thomas Waldrom 38 OF 7 Julian Salvi BF 6 Steve Mafi RL 5 Geoff Parling LL 4 George Skivington  73' TP 3 Dan Cole  55' HK 2 George Chuter  61' LP 1 Marcos Ayerza  73' Replacements: HK 16 Tom Youngs  61' PR 17 Logovi'i Mulipola  73' PR 18 Martin Castrogiovanni  55' LK 19 Graham Kitchener  73' FL 20 Craig Newby SH 21 Sam Harrison FH 22 Billy Twelvetrees  73' WG 23 Scott Hamilton  73' Coach: Richard Cockerill

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Most points Source:[3] Rank Player Club Points 1 Tom Homer London Irish 278 2 Nick Evans Harlequins 266 3 Nick Macleod Sale Sharks 231 4 Jimmy Gopperth Newcastle Falcons 221 5 Ignacio Mieres Exeter Chiefs 211 6 Toby Flood Leicester Tigers 199 7 Owen Farrell Saracens 195 8 Freddie Burns Gloucester 193 9 Ryan Lamb Northampton Saints 184 10 Nicky Robinson London Wasps 162

Most tries Source:[4] Rank Player Club Tries 1 Rob Miller Sale Sharks 10 2 Christian Wade London Wasps 9 3 Alesana Tuilagi Leicester Tigers 8 4 Mike Brown Harlequins 7 Miles Benjamin Worcester Warriors Charlie Sharples Gloucester 7 10 players tied 6

• 2011–12 English Premiership Full Results