The London Double Header ran between 2004 and 2017 and typically opened the season of

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 ...

(currently known as the Gallagher Premiership due to sponsorship), the top

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 ...

league in England. Two games were played consecutively at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

, originally involving the 'big four' London origin teams of the Premiership, Harlequins,

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

and

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

(London Wasps until the 2014–15 season). Harlequins were relegated from the premiership at the end of the 2004–05 season and thus for the 2005–06 season

Leeds Tykes Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 2 North. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when ...

were included instead. The same applied to

in 2016 who were replaced. The matches form part of the regular season fixtures, with one team nominated as the home side for each match. Since 2008 (2016 being an exception) and the inception of The Big Game, Harlequins only compete in the double-header as an away side in order to reduce the number of home games they play away from

Twickenham Stoop Twickenham Stoop Stadium (informally referred to as The Stoop) is a stadium located in south-west London, England, situated just across the road from Twickenham Stadium. The stadium is home to the Harlequins in Premiership Rugby and has a c ...

. From 2015 and following Wasps' relocation to Coventry, the direction of the series changed. Two London teams (normally London Irish and Saracens) acted as the hosts, with the away teams being any of the other 10 Premiership Rugby teams. In 2016, Harlequins hosted due to London Irish's relegation from the premiership. In 2015, 2016 and 2017 the series featured a newly promoted team. The Double Header did not take place in 2018 due to redevelopment works at Twickenham Stadium and has not returned. At other times of year Twickenham is also used for regular season Premiership fixtures, such as The Big Game hosted by Harlequins at Christmas time,

The Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

hosted by

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and the Premiership Final in June, as well as international fixtures including those by the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

, plus inter-armed forces and varsity matches.

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

The 2015 London Double Header was moved from its traditional Round 1 position, to Round 5, in order to accommodate the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

knock-out stage matches being played at

. It was also the first time since 2005 that

, Harlequins,

and

have not all taken part in the event. Harlequins chose not to take part due to the proximity of The Big Game 8 and were therefore replaced by

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 ...

. There had been suggestions that Wasps would not take part, following their move to the

Ricoh Arena The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena or just simply Coventry Arena, and formerly known as the Ricoh Arena) is a complex in Coventry, West Midlands, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currentl ...

, however they were announced as one of the away teams for the event at the fixture launch on 3 July 2015.

2016

The 2016 London Double Header returned to its traditional Round 1 position.

had been relegated from the Premiership and therefore did not take part. Home teams were confirmed on 28 June, with away teams confirmed at fixture launch on 7 July.

2017

The 2017 London Double Header took place in its traditional Round 1 position.

return after being promoted back into the Premiership. Home teams were confirmed on 22 June, with the away teams confirmed at the Premiership fixture launch on 7 July.
Premiership fixtures confirmed for 2017-18 season.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, London Double Header Rugby union in London