The 2012–13 División de Honor is the 46th season of the top flight of the Spanish domestic

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

competition since its inception in 1953. Regular season began in September 2012 and finished on April 28, 2013. The playoffs began on 19 May and the Final took place on 2 June. Defending champions,

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

, successfully defended its previous season title after defeating Santboiana 27–25 in the championship final.

La Vila Villajoyosa (), in Valencian language, Valencian: (), meaning "The Joyful Town", and officially / , is a coastal town and municipality in the south of the Valencian Community, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It is the historic and administra ...

was the relegated team to División de Honor B.

Competition format

The season took place between September and March, with every team playing each other home and away for a total of 22 matches. Points were awarded according to the following: * 4 points for a win * 2 points for a draw * 1 bonus point for a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match * 1 bonus point for a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer The six teams with the highest number of points at the end of 22 rounds of matches played the championship playoffs. The top two teams win a semifinal berth automatically, while the next four teams played off to take the remaining two spots. The club which finished bottom was relegated, while the club that finished 11th went into a playoff with a team from División de Honor B.

Promotion and relegation

The bottom team in the standings was relegated to División de Honor B, while the team finishing 11th played the relegation playoff. The top team from División de Honor B was promoted to División de Honor.

Teams

The division was increased from 10 teams in the previous season to 12, with

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, Complutense Cisneros and Hernani gaining promotion from Division de Honor B, and only

Alcobendas Alcobendas () is a municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. It forms an urban continuum with the neighbouring municipality of San Sebastián de los Reyes. The affluent residential area of La Moraleja lies within the municipal l ...

being relegated.

Regular season standings

Source
Federación Española de Rugby
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Championship playoffs

Bracket

Quarter-finals

Semifinals

Final

Relegation playoff

The relegation playoff was contested over two legs by Hernani, who finished 11th in División de Honor, and neighbours Alcobendas, the losing team from División de Honor B promotion playoff final. Vigo won the tie, winning 36-25 on aggregate.

1st leg

2nd leg

*'' Hernani remained in División de Honor. Sanitas Alcobendas remained in División de Honor B.''

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Division de Honor de Rugby 2012-13

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...