British and Irish Cup

British and Irish Cup
Sport	Rugby union
Instituted	2009; 15 years ago
Inaugural season	2009–10
Ceased	2018; 6 years ago
Number of teams	20–32
Nations	England; Ireland; Scotland; Wales; Jersey
Holders	Ealing Trailfinders (2017-18)
Most titles	Leinster A; Munster A (2 titles)
Related competition	RFU Championship; Pro14

The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009–10 season, and ran for 9 seasons.

After clubs from the English Championship decided to withdraw from the 2018–19 season, the competition was abolished. The Welsh and Irish rugby unions thereafter reinstituted the Celtic Cup competition for its development sides.^[1]

Leinster A and Munster A were the most successful sides in the competition, winning the trophy twice each. Five English clubs shared the remaining competition wins.

Format

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 varied slightly in each season. For the 2012–13 season, the competition was expanded to 32 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 24, 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.^[2]

From the 2015–16 season to its end in 2018, Wales was represented by regional Premiership Select sides from the four Welsh regions.^[3]

Finals

Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance
2009–10	Cornish Pirates	23 – 14	Munster A	Recreation Ground, Camborne	4,240
2010–11	Bristol	17 – 14	Bedford Blues	Memorial Ground, Bristol	4,375
2011–12	Munster A	31 – 12	Cross Keys	Musgrave Park, Cork	3,000
2012–13	Leinster A	18 – 17	Newcastle Falcons	Kingston Park, Newcastle	3,838
2013–14	Leinster A	44 – 17	Leeds Carnegie	Donnybrook, Dublin	2,024
2014–15	Worcester Warriors	35 – 5	Doncaster Knights	Castle Park, Doncaster	3,115
2015–16	London Welsh	33 – 10	Yorkshire Carnegie	Headingley Stadium, Leeds	3,107
2016–17	Munster A	29 – 28	Jersey Reds	Irish Independent Park, Cork	983
2017–18	Ealing Trailfinders	22 – 7	Leinster A	Trailfinders Sports Ground, London	1,386

Teams

Team	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18
Bedford Blues	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Birmingham & Solihull	Y	Y
Bristol	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y
Cornish Pirates	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Coventry	Y
Doncaster Knights	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y
Ealing Trailfinders					Y		Y	Y	Y
Esher		Y	Y
Exeter Chiefs	Y
Jersey Reds^[a]				Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Yorkshire Carnegie			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
London Irish								Y
London Scottish			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
London Welsh	Y	Y	Y		Y		Y	Y
Moseley	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Newcastle Falcons				Y
Nottingham Rugby	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Plymouth Albion	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Richmond								Y	Y
Rotherham Titans	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Worcester Warriors		Y				Y
Aberavon	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y
Cardiff	Y			Y
Llanelli	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Neath	Y	Y	Y	Y
Newport	Y	Y		Y
Pontypridd	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Llandovery		Y		Y
Swansea		Y	Y	Y
Cross Keys			Y	Y	Y	Y
Bedwas				Y
Bridgend Ravens				Y
Carmarthen Quins				Y		Y
Cardiff Blues Premiership Select							Y	Y	Y
Dragons Premiership Select							Y	Y	Y
Ospreys Premiership Select							Y	Y	Y
Scarlets Premiership Select							Y	Y	Y
Ayr	Y	Y	Y		Y
Gael Force	Y
Heriot's FP	Y
Currie		Y	Y
Melrose		Y	Y	Y
Dundee HSFP				Y
Gala				Y	Y
Stirling County				Y	Y
Edinburgh Academicals					Y
Connacht Eagles				Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Leinster A	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Munster A	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Ulster A	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y

History

2009–10 Competition

The inaugural competition was contested by 24 teams:

12 teams from the RFU Championship, the second tier of English rugby
3 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
3 Scottish sides, 2 top clubs from the Scottish Premiership and Gael Force, a side made up of a combination of National Academy players
6 top clubs from the Principality Premiership, the second tier of Welsh rugby.

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.^[4]^[5]

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.

Semi-finals		Final

25 April 2010 - Camborne

Cornish Pirates	43
		16 May 2010 - Camborne
Doncaster	5
		Cornish Pirates	23
24 April 2010 - Thomond Park
		Munster A	14
Munster A	27

Ulster Ravens	3

2010–11 Competition

The allocation of teams for the second season was very similar to that of the first:

12 teams from the RFU Championship, the second tier of English rugby
3 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
3 top clubs from the Scottish Premiership, the second tier of Scottish rugby
6 top clubs from the Principality Premiership, the second tier of Welsh rugby.

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:

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

5 March 2011 - Sardis Road

Pontypridd	12
		23 April 2011 - Sardis Road
Llanelli	10
		Pontypridd	25
6 March 2011 - Memorial Stadium
		Bristol	36
Bristol	29
				7 May 2011 - Memorial Stadium
Ayr	19
				Bristol	17
5 March 2011 - Goldington Road
				Bedford Blues	14
Bedford Blues	50
		23 April 2011 - Goldington Road
Leinster A	15
		Bedford Blues	43
5 March 2011 - Sixways Stadium
		Worcester Warriors	27
Worcester Warriors	57

Moseley	15

2011–12 Competition

The allocation of teams for the third season was identical to that of the second season:

12 teams from the RFU Championship, the second tier of English rugby
3 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
3 top clubs from the Scottish Premiership, the second tier of Scottish rugby
6 top clubs from the Principality Premiership, the second tier of Welsh rugby.

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.^[6]^[7]

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

22 January 2012 – Donnybrook

Leinster A	32
		6 April 2012 – RDS
Pontypridd	0
		Leinster A	29
20 January 2012 – Ravenhill
		Munster A	36
Ulster Ravens	9
				27 April 2012 – Musgrave Park
Munster A	20
				Munster A	31
21 January 2012 – Pandy Park
				Cross Keys	12
Cross Keys	32
		7 April 2012 – Pandy Park
Llanelli	8
		Cross Keys	20
22 January 2012 – Mennaye Field
		Cornish Pirates	16
Cornish Pirates	33

Nottingham	3

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:

12 teams from the RFU Championship, the second tier of English rugby
4 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
4 top clubs from the Scottish Premiership, the second tier of Scottish rugby
12 clubs from the Principality Premiership, the second tier of Welsh rugby.

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.^[8]

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.

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

6 April 2013 - Goldington Road

Bedford Blues	32
		27 April 2013 - Goldington Road
Llanelli	18
		Bedford Blues	15
5 April 2013 - Kingston Park
		Newcastle Falcons	18
Newcastle Falcons	72
				17 May 2013 – Kingston Park
Nottingham	17
				Newcastle Falcons	17
7 April 2013 - Mennaye Field
				Leinster A	18
Cornish Pirates	9
		26 April 2013 - Garryowen FC
Munster A	10
		Munster A	15
7 April 2013 - Memorial Stadium
		Leinster A	17
Bristol	26

Leinster A	30

2013–14 Competition

The number of teams playing in the fifth competition was reduced from 32 to 24, with a reduction of Welsh teams from twelve to four:

12 teams from the RFU Championship, the second tier of English rugby
4 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
4 top clubs from the Scottish Premiership, the second tier of Scottish rugby
4 clubs from the Principality Premiership, the second tier of Welsh rugby.

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.^[9] 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.^[10]

The draw for the knockout stage was carried out on 27 January 2014.^[11] The top four seeds (Leinster A, Leeds Carnegie, Cornish Pirates and Bristol) had home advantage in the quarter-finals.^[12] 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.^[13] This game ended as a 22 all draw after extra time; Leinster won on tries scored (3 – 1).^[14] 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.^[15]^[16]

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

5 April 2014 – Mennaye Field

Cornish Pirates	14
		26 April 2014 – Sardis Road^{[n 1]}
Pontypridd	16
		Pontypridd	22
4 April 2014 – Donnybrook
		Leinster A	22
Leinster A	47
				23 May 2014 – Donnybrook
Munster A	15
				Leinster A	44
4 April 2014 – Memorial Stadium
				Leeds Carnegie	17
Bristol	39
		4 May 2014 – Memorial Stadium
Rotherham Titans	24
		Bristol	25
4 April 2014 – Headingley
		Leeds Carnegie	30
Leeds Carnegie	41

Plymouth Albion	21

^
Leinster won on number of tries scored.^[14]

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:

12 teams from the RFU Championship, the second tier of English rugby
4 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
4 clubs from the Principality Premiership, the second tier of Welsh rugby.

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.^[2]

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

24 January 2015 – Castle Park

Doncaster Knights	38
		14 March 2015 – Castle Park
Munster A	17
		Doncaster Knights	27
23 January 2015 – Ashton Gate
		Bristol	22
Bristol	41
				3 April 2015 – Castle Park
Yorkshire Carnegie	28
				Doncaster Knights	5
24 January 2015 – Sixways Stadium
				Worcester Warriors	35
Worcester Warriors	24
		13 March 2015 – Sixways Stadium
Pontypridd	10
		Worcester Warriors	15
24 January 2015 – Clifton Lane
		Leinster A	13
Rotherham Titans	32

Leinster A	51

2015–16 Competition

Remaining with 20 teams.

– twelve clubs from RFU Championship
– four Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
– four Welsh regions represented by Premiership Select teams.

Five pools of 4 teams, with the pool winners and the top three runners up going through to the knockout competition.

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

11 March – Goldington Road

Bedford Blues	15
		19 March – Old Deer Park
Jersey	19
		London Welsh	36
12 March – Donnybrook
		Cornish Pirates	15
Leinster A	39
				10 April – Headingley
London Welsh	45
				Yorkshire Carnegie	10
13 March – Mennaye Field
				London Welsh	33
Cornish Pirates	38
		20 March – Headingley
Doncaster Knights	19
		Yorkshire Carnegie	33
13 March – Headingley
		Jersey	32
Yorkshire Carnegie	50

Moseley	3