History
Men's
Men's BUCS Super Rugby was launched in 2016 as a new, top level of university rugby above the existing North A and South A leagues. The eight teams in the inaugural 2016–17 season were those who finished in the top four of the North A and South A leagues in the preceding 2015–16 season. The league expanded to nine teams in the 2017–18 season and ten teams in the 2018–19 season.Women's
Women's BUCS Super Rugby was launched ahead of the 2024–25 season. The seven-team competition is a positive evolution of the Women's National League (WNL) and joins the top level of Men's rugby union as BUCS’ second ‘Super’ level of competition. Women's BUCS Super Rugby will provide an enhanced platform to aid female players at institutions in England, Wales, and Scotland in developing their game while pursuing higher education. On 12 February 2025 Brunel University's Women secured their place in Women's BUCS Super Rugby (WBSR), for the first time in their history, defeating Newcastle 64–8 in the BSR North vs South Prem Playoff.Men's BUCS Super Rugby
Excluding the 2020–21 season, which was cancelled due to theSeason structure
The season has three phases: * League - a double round-robin tournament, where teams play each other home and away. * Championship - a knockout tournament featuring the top eight teams from the League. * Playoff - a knockout tournament featuring the team at the bottom of the League and the teams at the top of North A and South A leagues. The Playoff determines whether relegation and promotion occur.League
The League season currently has 18 rounds and typically runs from September to March. League points are awarded in the following way: * 4 points for winning a match * 2 points for drawing a match * 0 points for losing a match * 1 losing bonus point for losing by 7 points (or less) * 1 try bonus point for scoring (at least) 4 tries, regardless of the outcome. In this points system winning teams get 4 or 5 points, drawing teams 2 or 3 points, and losing teams between 0 and 2 points.Championship
The Championship competition has three rounds and typically takes place in April. It features the teams who finished in the top eight of the league.Men's BUCS Super Rugby Milk Championships
Quarter Finals: *1st v 8th *2nd v 7th *4th v 5th *3rd v 6th Semi Finals: *1st or 8th v 4th or 5th * 2nd or 7th v 3rd or 6thPlayoff
The team that finishes last in the league is not automatically relegated. Relegation from (and promotion to) BUCS Super Rugby is decided through a playoff in the format of a three-team, single-elimination tournament. The playoff begins with a semi-final between the winners of the North A and South A leagues. The bottom placed BUCS Super Rugby team has a bye directly into the playoff game. The winner of the playoff game is the team that plays in the next season of BUCS Super Rugby. The home team in each game is decided by coin toss.Playoff results
:Gold background University that has been promoted to Men's BUCS Super Rugby. :Cyan background Men's BUCS Super Rugby University that has successfully defended their place in the league after the Playoffs. :Red background Playoff campaign was not completed due to suspension of competition due to Covid-19 Pandemic.Results
League and championship
:Green background (rows 1 to 8) are teams that progressed to the Championship tournament. :Red background is a team that was relegated after losing a playoff to a North A / South A team. :(CH) Champions. (RU) Runners-up. (SF) Losing semi-finalists. (R) RelegatedChampionship finals
Promotion and relegation
Alumni with international caps
The inclusion criteria are that the player played in a senior international test after playing in BUCS Super Rugby. , -Place in the BUCS Rugby Union pyramid
BUCS Super Rugby is the top division of men's university rugby in Britain. It sits in the Premier tier of the BUCS Rugby Union pyramid, along with North A, North B, South A and South B.Women's BUCS Super Rugby
''* Excludes the 2020–21 season, which was cancelled due to Covid-19.''Season structure
The season has three phases: * League - a double round-robin tournament, where teams play each other home and away. * Championship - a knockout tournament featuring the top eight teams from the League. * Playoff - a knockout tournament featuring the team at the bottom of the League and the teams at the top of North A and South A leagues. The Playoff determines whether relegation and promotion occur.League
The league season currently has 14 rounds and typically runs from September to March. League points are awarded in the following way: * 4 points for winning a match * 2 points for drawing a match * 0 points for losing a match * 1 losing bonus point for losing by 7 points (or less) * 1 try bonus point for scoring (at least) 4 tries, regardless of the outcome. In this points system winning teams get 4 or 5 points, drawing teams 2 or 3 points, and losing teams between 0 and 2 points.Championship
The Championship competition has three rounds and typically takes place in April. It features the teams that finished in the top six of the league. The top two places are awarded a bye into the semi-finals.Women's BUCS Super Rugby Milk Championships
Quarter Finals: *1st - BYE *2nd - BYE *4th v 5th *3rd v 6th Semi Finals: *1st v 4th or 5th *2nd v 3rd or 6thResults
League and championship
:Green background (rows 1 to 6) are teams that progressed to the Championship tournament. :(CH) Champions. (RU) Runners-up. (SF) Losing semi-finalists.Championship finals
Place in the BUCS Rugby Union pyramid
BUCS Super Rugby is the top division of women's university rugby in Britain. It sits in the Premier tier of the BUCS Rugby Union pyramid, along with Premier North and South.University Celestial 7s
The UC7s brings together the finest university rugby playing talent across the land, all vying to be crowned the uni Kings and Queens of the most heavenly form of the game, Rugby 7s. The competition consists of more than 50 male and female university teams, including up to 1,000 players. With five active competitions on the day played across seven pitches at The Richmond Athletics Ground, the home of Richmond RFC, Universities go to battle. The inaugural competition takes place on Friday 13 June 2025.Competitions
Men’s and Women’s Championship
The Championships are open to Super Rugby and North/South Premier sides.Men’s and Women's Trophy
The Trophy is open to all other BUCS sides competing across the leagues.The Capital Cup
The Capital Cup is especially for the great institutions of London.Media coverage
Some BUCS Super Rugby matches are streamed live on the Super Rugby YouTube channel. In the 2018–19 season, some men's matches were broadcast on FreeSports.See also
*References
{{Reflist University and college rugby union competitions University and college rugby union in the United Kingdom 2016 establishments in the United Kingdom