The 2014–15 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, is the sixth 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 is 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, ...

. This is the second year of the competition's sponsorship with Greene King Brewery, which runs until 2017. The twelve teams in the RFU Championship also competed in 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

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Matches in the RFU Championship were broadcast on Sky Sports.

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors are a professional rugby union club based in Worcester, England. They most recently played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby union, before being suspended by the Rugby Football Union, RFU in September 2 ...

finished second during the regular season and became champions after beating

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

59 – 58 in the two-legged final. The Warriors overcame third-place London Scottish in the semifinal play-off, while Bristol (who finished first in the league table) beat fourth-place Rotherham Titans in the other semi-final. After thirteen seasons in the second tier of English rugby union, Plymouth Albion are relegated to the 2015–16 National League 1 for next season, after finishing in last place.

Structure

The Championship's structure has all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis. The play–off structure will remain the same as the previous year. The top four teams at the end of the home–and–away season qualify for the promotion play–offs which follow a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system. The winners have to meet the RFU's Minimum Standards Criteria in order to be promoted to the Premiership. If they fail to meet the criteria then there is no promotion. There are no relegation play–offs; the bottom team is automatically relegated. Following an agreement with the RFU in 2012, each RFU Championship club will receive £365,000 in funding from the RFU for the season.

Participating teams and locations

Ten of the teams that competed in the

2013–14 RFU Championship 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 second tier of the English rugby union league system run by the Ru ...

remain in the competition for the 2014–15 RFU Championship.

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 promoted back into the English Premiership after defeating

in the play-off final after being relegated into the RFU Championship the previous year. They are replaced by

after they were relegated to the RFU Championship after finishing last in the 2013–14 English Premiership.

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 ...

were relegated into National League 1 after finishing bottom of the 2013–14 RFU Championship by one point. They are replaced by

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 ...

, who returned to the RFU Championship at the first opportunity by finishing top of 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 ...

after being relegated in 2013. This was the first time that a relegated team returned to the RFU Championship after being relegated the previous season since the RFU Championship was formed. Below is a list of the teams participating in the 2014–15 RFU Championship.

League table

Fixtures

Round 1

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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

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Round 14

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Round 15

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Round 16

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Round 17

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Round 18

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Round 19

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Round 20

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Round 21

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Round 22

Play-offs

Semi-finals

The semifinals followed a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system – with the games being played over two-legs with the higher placed team deciding who played at home in the first leg.

First leg

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Second leg

* Worcester Warriors won 65 – 37 on aggregate ---- * Bristol Rugby won 56 – 36 on aggregate

Final

The final is played over two legs – with the higher placed team deciding who played at home in the first leg.

First leg

Second leg

Worcester win 59 – 58 on aggregate

Attendances

*Includes play-off games where applicable

Individual statistics

* Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Stats also include promotion play-offs.

Top points scorers

Top try scorers

RFU Dream Team XV

The RFU Dream Team is picked by the coaches of the twelve championship teams. Bristol playmaker Morgan attracted the highest number of votes for an individual player with eight, one more than Cornish Pirates pair Tom Kessell and Darren Barry and Nottingham's Shaun Malton. Meanwhile, London Scottish number 8 Bright makes the Dream Team for the third year in a row and is the only player to retain his place from last season. *15 Paul Jarvis (Doncaster Knights) *14

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2012, they rose to prominence when they featured on Disclosure (band), Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch (song), Latch", which peaked at number eleven on ...

(Worcester Warriors) *13 Max Stelling (Worcester Warriors) *12

Andy Symons Andy Symons (born 29 June 1991, Harlow) is an English 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 ru ...

(Worcester Warriors) *11

David Lemi David Lemi (born 10 February 1982) is a professional rugby player who plays on the wing for Rouen. Weighing 75 kg and only 1.75m tall, he is one of the smaller professional rugby players. However, his electric pace and low centre of gravi ...

(Bristol Rugby) *10 Matthew Morgan (Bristol Rugby) * 9 Tom Kessell (Cornish Pirates) * 1 Sam Lockwood (Jersey) * 2 Shaun Malton (Nottingham Rugby) * 3 Harry Williams (Jersey) * 4 Mike Williams (Worcester Warriors) * 5 Darren Barry (Cornish Pirates) * 6 Alex Rieder (Rotherham Titans) * 7 Jack Preece (Rotherham Titans) * 8

Mark Bright Mark Abraham Bright (born 6 June 1962) is an English sports correspondent and former Association football, footballer. Born to a The Gambia, Gambian father and English mother, he was adopted into a foster family in Stoke-on-Trent at an early a ...

(London Scottish)

Season records

Team

;Largest home win — 51 pts 65 - 14 Cornish Pirates at home to Bedford Blues on 23 November 2014 ;Largest away win — 61 pts 69 - 8 Worcester Warriors away to Cornish Pirates on 18 April 2015 ;Most points scored — 69 pts 69 - 8 Worcester Warriors away to Cornish Pirates on 18 April 2015 ;Most tries in a match — 10 (x2) London Scottish at home to Plymouth Albion on 4 October 2014
Worcester Warriors away to Cornish Pirates on 18 April 2015 ;Most conversions in a match — 8 Worcester Warriors away to Cornish Pirates on 18 April 2015 ;Most penalties in a match — 7 (x2) Moseley away to Doncaster Knights on 15 November 2014
London Scottish away to Nottingham Rugby on 4 January 2015 ;Most drop goals in a match — 1 N/A - multiple teams

Player

;Most points in a match — 25 Lawrence Rayner for Plymouth Albion away to Rotherham Titans on 20 September 2014 ;Most tries in a match — 4 (x2)

for Worcester Warriors away to Yorkshire Carnegie on 27 December 2014
Olly Robinson for Bristol Rugby away to Plymouth Albion on 11 April 2015 ;Most conversions in a match — 8

for Worcester Warriors away to Cornish Pirates on 18 April 2015 ;Most penalties in a match — 7 (x2)

Sam Olver Sam Olver (born 17 October 1994) is a professional rugby union player currently playing at Doncaster Knights in the RFU Championship. He was coached at Oundle School by his father, John Olver, ex-England player. Olver made his debut for Saints ...

for Moseley away to Doncaster Knights on 15 November 2014
Peter Lydon for London Scottish away to Nottingham Rugby on 4 January 2015 ;Most drop goals in a match — 1 N/A - multiple players

Attendances

;Highest — 12,024 Worcester Warriors at home to Bristol on 27 May 2015 ;Lowest — 631 Moseley at home to London Scottish on 8 November 2014 ;Highest Average Attendance — 8,055 Bristol Rugby ;Lowest Average Attendance — 1,098 Moseley

References

External links

RFU Championship news
{{DEFAULTSORT:Championship 2014–15 in English rugby union leagues 2014-15