The 2013–14 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, was the fifth season of the professionalised format of the
RFU Championship
The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...
, the second tier of the
English rugby union league system run by the
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...
. It was held between 14 September 2013 and 4 June 2014. It was contested by eleven English clubs and one from
Jersey
Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
in the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
. It was also the first Championship season with a title sponsor, as the
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...
and
Greene King Brewery reached a deal by which the brewery would become the competition's main sponsor from 2013–14 through to 2016–17.
After being promoted after an appeal in
the previous season,
London Welsh
London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...
were relegated back into the RFU Championship after finishing last in the
2012-13 English Premiership. As a result of relegation, they remained at the
Kassam Stadium
The Kassam Stadium (also known as Grenoble Road) is the home of Oxford United F.C., and is named after the ground's owner and former chairman of the football club, Firoz Kassam.
The Kassam Stadium was built whilst Oxford United played in Di ...
in
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
instead of returning to their home ground of
Old Deer Park
Old Deer Park is an area of open space within Richmond, London, Richmond, owned by the Crown Estate, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It covers of which are leased as sports grounds for sports, particularly rugby, gol ...
in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in order to strengthen their support base.
London Welsh replaced
Newcastle Falcons
Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union.
The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...
who were promoted into the
English Premiership after winning the
play-off final against
Bedford Blues
Bedford Blues are a semi-professional rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in the RFU Championship.
History
Foundation and 19th century
Bedford RUFC was founded in 1886 after an amalgamation between Bedford Rove ...
.
Doncaster Knights
Doncaster Knights Rugby Football Club ''(formerly, Doncaster RFC)'' are a professional rugby union club representing the city of Doncaster, England. The club play in the 2nd division of English rugby, the RFU Championship. Being the most prom ...
were relegated to the
2013–14 National League 1
The 2013–14 National League 1, known for sponsorship reasons as the SSE National League 1 is the fifth season of the National League 1, third tier of the English domestic rugby union competitions, since the professionalised format of the second ...
and were replaced by the champions of National League 1,
Ealing Trailfinders
Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the reigning RFU Championship champions of 2024–25 but were considered ineligible for promotion to Premiership Rugby a ...
who played in the RFU Championship for the first time.
The twelve clubs in the 2013–14 RFU Championship also participated in the
2013–14 edition of the
British and Irish Cup
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� ...
along with clubs from
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
and
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. Matches in the RFU Championship were broadcast on
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
.
Structure
The Championship's structure had all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis. In a change to previous years, this season commenced with an extra round of games in the "Greene King IPA Big Rugby Weekend". Matches were played on the weekend of 14 and 15 September with three double headers at neutral grounds:
Saracens' Allianz Park,
Doncaster's Castle Park and
Exeter's Sandy Park
Sandy Park is a rugby union stadium and conference and banqueting centre in Exeter, England. It is the home ground of Exeter Chiefs, who from the 2010–11 season have been playing in Premiership Rugby, the top flight of the English rugby union ...
.
The play–off structure remained the same as the previous year.
The top four teams at the end of the home–and–away season qualified for the promotion play–offs, which followed a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system. The winners had to meet the
RFU's Minimum Standards Criteria in order to be promoted to the Premiership. If they had failed to meet the criteria, then there would have been no promotion from the RFU Championship. However, on 9 May 2014, the RFU announced that all four play-off participants had met the Minimum Standards Criteria, assuring that the champion would indeed be promoted to the 2014–15 Premiership. There was no relegation play–off; the bottom team was automatically relegated.
Following an agreement with the RFU in 2012, each RFU Championship club received £355,000 in funding from the RFU for the season.
Participating teams
;Notes
League table
Regular season
The 2013–14 RFU Championship kicked off on the weekend of 14 and 15 September with the "Greene King IPA Big Rugby Weekend", an extra round of matches played as three double headers at neutral grounds.
[ Thereafter, each team played the other twice on a home and away basis with the top four qualifying for the promotion phase.
]
Round 1 (Big Rugby Weekend)
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Round 2
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Round 3
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Round 4
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Round 5
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Round 6
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Round 7
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Round 8
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Round 9
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Round 10
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Round 11
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Round 12
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Round 13
* This match was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
Round 14
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Round 15
* This match was postponed, as the surface of many parts of the pitch is under water.
Round 16
* This match was postponed as the pitch was deemed unplayable. It has been rescheduled to 22 February.
Postponed matches
* This match – originally scheduled to be played in Round 15 on 7 February 2014 – was postponed as many parts of the pitch was under water.[
* This match – originally scheduled to be played in Round 16 on 14 February 2014 – was postponed as the pitch was deemed unplayable.][ It will now be played on 15 March.][
]
Round 17
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Round 18
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Postponed matches (2)
* This match – originally scheduled to be played in Round 16 on 14 February 2014 – was postponed as the pitch was deemed unplayable.[ The pitch was again found to be unplayable on the new date of 22 February, and the match was postponed for the second time.][
* This match – originally scheduled to be played in Round 16 on 15 February 2014 – was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.][
* This match – originally scheduled to be played in Round 16 on 16 February 2014 – was postponed after a pitch inspection at The Mennaye.][
]
Round 19
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Round 20
* This result means that London Welsh will finish in the top four and therefore are into the playoffs.
* This result means that Bristol will finish in the top four and therefore are into the playoffs.
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Round 21
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Round 22
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Round 23
Play–offs
Semi–finals
The semi–finals followed a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system - with the games being played over two legs and the higher placed team deciding who played at home in the first leg.
First leg
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Second leg
* Bristol won 39 — 25 on aggregate
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* London Welsh won 60 — 58 on aggregate
Final
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* London Welsh won 48–28 on aggregate and were promoted to Premiership Rugby
Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...
Total attendances
*Note attendance statistics include 1st round with each team playing at the neutral venue considered the 'home team' as well as playoff games
Top scorers
Top points scorers
Top try scorers
Season records
Team
;Largest home win — 70 pts
79 – 9 Rotherham Titans at home to Ealing Trailfinders on 21 September 2013
;Largest away win — 44 pts
51 - 7 Rotherham Titans away to Nottingham on 9 March 2014
;Most points scored — 82 pts
82 – 28 Bristol at home to Ealing Trailfinders on 30 March 2014
;Most tries in a match — 12
Bristol at home to Ealing Trailfinders on 30 March 2014
;Most conversions in a match — 11
Bristol at home to Ealing Trailfinders on 30 March 2014
;Most penalties in a match — 8
Leeds Carnegie at home to London Welsh on 11 May 2014
;Most drop goals in a match — 2
Ealing Trailfinders at home to Nottingham on 12 April 2014
Player
;Most points in a match — 34
Juan Pablo Socino for Rotherham Titans at home to Ealing Trailfinders on 21 September 2013
;Most tries in a match — 4 (x2)
Marko Mama for Bristol at home to Cornish Pirates on 9 March 2014
Curtis Wilson for Rotherham Titans away to Nottingham on 9 March 2014
;Most conversions in a match — 11
Adrian Jarvis for Bristol at home to Ealing Trailfinders on 30 March 2014
;Most penalties in a match — 7
Glyn Hughes for Leeds Carnegie at home to London Welsh on 11 May 2014
;Most drop goals in a match — 1
N/A - multiple players
Attendances
;Highest — 10,905
Bristol at home to London Welsh on 4 June 2014
;Lowest — 473
Ealing Trailfinders at home to Nottingham on 12 April 2014
;Highest Average Attendance — 5,662
Bristol
;Lowest Average Attendance — 840
Ealing Trailfinders
See also
* 2013–14 British and Irish Cup
References
External links
RFU Championship news
{{DEFAULTSORT:Championship
2013–14 in English rugby union leagues
2013-14