2012–13 British and Irish Cup explained

2012–13 British and Irish Cup
Countries:	Ireland
Tournament Format:	Round-robin and knockout
Date:	October 2012 — May 2013
Teams:	32
Matches:	103
Top Point Scorer:	(88 points)^[1]
Top Try Scorer:	(8 tries)^[2]
Venue:	Kingston Park
Attendance2:	3,838
Champions:	Leinster A
Count:	1
Runner-Up:	Newcastle Falcons
Previous Year:	2011–12
Previous Tournament:	2011–12 British and Irish Cup
Next Year:	2013–14
Next Tournament:	2013–14 British and Irish Cup

The 2012–13 British and Irish Cup was the fourth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. The final was contest on 17 May 2013 and won by Leinster A with a 78th minute penalty by Noel Reid to beat Newcastle Falcons 18–17 at their home ground Kingston Park. The defending champions Munster A were eliminated in the semi–finals by the eventual winners and Bedford Blues was the other losing semi–finalists.

There has been four different winners and four different losing finalist of the competition. The format of the competition has been considerably revamped, with expansion to 32 teams playing each other home and away in the pool stages. Previously, 24 teams played home or away in the pool stages. First round matches began on the weekend of 13/14 October 2012 and the final was held on 17 May 2013.^[3]

Teams

The allocation of teams was as follows:

– 12 clubs from RFU Championship
– 4 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
– 4 top clubs from the Scottish Premiership
– 12 clubs from the Welsh Premier Division

width=20%	England	width=20%	Ireland	width=20%	Scotland	width=20%	Wales^[4]
Bedford Blues Bristol Cornish Pirates Doncaster Jersey Leeds Carnegie London Scottish Moseley Newcastle Falcons Nottingham Plymouth Albion Rotherham	Connacht Eagles Leinster A Munster A Ulster Ravens	Dundee HSFP Gala Melrose Stirling County	Aberavon Bedwas Bridgend Ravens Cardiff Carmarthen Quins Cross Keys Llandovery Llanelli Neath Newport Pontypridd Swansea

Competition format

The pool stage saw a considerable change in format and consisted of eight pools of four teams playing home and away matches. Pool matches took place on the same weekends as the Heineken and Amlin Cups. The top team from each pool qualified for the quarter-finals.

Pool stages

The fixture weekends have been announced.^[5]

Round 6 matches were badly affected by adverse weather. Pitches were frozen or snow-covered, or teams were unable to travel.

Pool 1

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This match was postponed from 20 January 2013 as the pitch was deemed frozen and the surrounding areas unsafe for supporters.^[6]

Match postponed from 19 January 2013 as Ulster were unable to fly due to the bad weather.^[7] Despite this match being a dead rubber (the outcome of this game will have no bearing on qualification for the knockout stages nor on the ranking of the qualifiers), the match was rearranged^[8] as Bridgend would lose revenue otherwise.^[9]

Pool 2

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This match was originally scheduled to be played on 19 January 2013. Due to bad weather, the Bedwas team was unable to travel to Bedford.^[10]

Pool 3

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Pool 4

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This match was postponed as the Newport team were unable to fly out of Bristol on 18 January due to snow^[11]

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This match was originally scheduled to be played on 19 January 2013 but was postponed due to heavy snow.^[12] The match was a dead rubber and the outcome had no bearing on qualification for the knockout stages nor on the ranking of the qualifiers.

Pool 5

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This fixture was moved to South Leeds Stadium^[13] as the RFU Championship game against Plymouth (on 6 January 2013) went to uncontested scrums within 16 minutes on the new pitch at Headingley.^[14] Subsequently, the match was moved to West Park Leeds RUFC as the pitch at South Leeds Stadium was uncovered and frozen.^[15] Finally, the game went ahead on the 3G pitch.^[16]

This match, originally scheduled for 19 January, was postponed due to the ground being under a seven to nine inch layer of snow and unplayable.^[17] Despite this match being a dead rubber (the outcome of this game will have no bearing on qualification for the knockout stages nor on the ranking of the qualifiers), the match was rearranged.^[18]

Pool 6

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Pool 7

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This match was postponed from 19 January 2013 due to a frozen pitch.^[19] Although this match is a dead rubber (the outcome of this game will have no bearing on qualification for the knockout stages nor on the ranking of the qualifiers), a new date was arranged.^[20]

Pool 8

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This match was postponed from 19 January after a pitch inspection deemed it unfit.^[21]

Knock–out stages

Qualifiers

The eight pool winners proceed to the knock out stages. The quarter-final matches were:^[22]

Seed 1 v Seed 8
Seed 2 v Seed 7
Seed 3 v Seed 6
Seed 4 v Seed 5

Teams are ranked by

1. Competition Points (4 for a win, 2 for a draw, etc)

2. where Competition Points are equal, greatest number of wins

3. where these are equal, aggregate points difference

4. where these are equal, greatest number of points scoredThere are further criteria that can be applied if necessary.^[23]

Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Final

Top scorers

Top points scorers

Rank	Player	Points
1		88
2		83
3		67
4		66
5		64
6		61
7		56
8		54
	Llanelli
10		52
	Bristol

Top try scorers

Rank	Player	Tries
1		8
	Bedford Blues
3		7
4		6
	Leinster A
5		5
	Bedford Blues
8		4
	Ulster Ravens
	Newcastle Falcons
	Munster A
	Nottingham
	Nottingham
	Neath
	Gala
	Bristol
	Leeds Carnegie

Geography

width=20%	Team	width=20%	Stadium	width=20%	Capacity	width=40%	City/Area/Country
Aberavon	Talbot Athletic Ground	3,000	Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot, Wales
Bedford Blues	Goldington Road	4,684	Bedford, Bedfordshire, England
Bedwas	The Bridge Field	Unknown	Bedwas, Caerphilly County Borough, Wales
Bridgend Ravens	Brewery Field	8,000	Bridgend, Bridgend County Borough, Wales
Bristol	Memorial Stadium	12,100	Horfield, Bristol, England
Cardiff	Cardiff Arms Park	13,500	Cardiff, Wales
Carmarthen Quins	Carmarthen Park	Unknown	Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Connacht Eagles	Dubarry Park^[24]	10,000	Athlone, Leinster, Ireland
Cornish Pirates	Mennaye Field	4,000	Penzance, Cornwall, England
Cross Keys	Pandy Park	Unknown	Crosskeys, Caerphilly County Borough, Wales
Doncaster	Castle Park	3,075	Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England
Dundee HSFP	Mayfield Playing Fields	Unknown	Dundee, Scotland
Gala	Netherdale	6,000	Galashiels, Scottish Borders, Scotland
Jersey	St. Peter	5,000	Saint Peter, Jersey
Leeds Carnegie	Headingley Stadium	21,062	Headingley, Leeds, England
Leinster A	Donnybrook	7,000	Dublin, Leinster, Ireland
Llandovery	Church Bank	5,000	Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Llanelli	Parc y Scarlets	14,870	Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales
London Scottish		4,500	Richmond, London, England
Melrose	Greenyards	Unknown	Melrose, Scottish Borders, Scotland
Moseley	Billesley Common	3,650	Birmingham, West Midlands, England
Munster A	Musgrave Park	8,300	Cork, County Cork, Ireland
Neath	The Gnoll	7,500	Neath, Neath Port Talbot, Wales
Newcastle Falcons	Kingston Park	10,200	Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Newport	Rodney Parade	10,500	Newport, Wales
Nottingham	Meadow Lane	19,588	Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
Plymouth Albion	The Brickfields	8,500	Plymouth, Devon, England
Pontypridd	Sardis Road	7,861	Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales
Rotherham	Clifton Lane	2,500	Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England
Stirling County	Bridgehaugh	4,000	Stirling, Scotland
Swansea	St Helens	4,500	Brynmill, Swansea, Wales
Ulster Ravens	Ravenhill	12,125	Belfast, Ulster, Northern Ireland

Notes

External links

Unofficial British and Irish Cup website - latest news, teams etc

Notes and References

Web site: British & Irish Cup Statistics - Top Point Scorers. 18 May 2013. https://archive.today/20130411181450/http://www.rugbyroundup.com/stats.php?leagueID=117&statType=topPointScorers. 11 April 2013. dead. dmy-all.
Web site: British & Irish Cup Statistics - Top Try Scorers. 18 May 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131217200850/http://www.rugbyroundup.com/stats.php?leagueID=117&statType=topTryScorers. 17 December 2013. dead. dmy-all.
Web site: B&I Cup set to arrive in Connacht . www.connachtrugby.ie . 11 May 2012 . 5 July 2012 . dead . https://archive.today/20130107214721/http://www.connachtrugby.ie/2012051182840/the-bai-cup-set-to-arrive-in-connacht . 7 January 2013 .
Web site: Bridgend & Carmarthen Quins set for Welsh Premiership reprieve . BBC. 25 November 2011. 6 July 2012.
Web site: British Irish Cup 2012-13. www.llandoveryrfc.co.uk. 17 July 2012.
Web site: Cardiff Rearranged Fixture Date Announced. www.bristolrugby.co.uk. 25 January 2013. 25 January 2013.
Web site: Bridgend Ravens v Ulster 'A' - POSTPONED. www.bridgendravens.co.uk. 18 January 2013. 18 January 2013. 4 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025906/http://www.bridgendravens.co.uk/News/Article/23577. dead.
Web site: Ravens v Ulster (h) fixture confirmed. www.bridgendravens.co.uk. 19 March 2013. 22 March 2013.
Web site: 'Pointless' game must go ahead, demand Ravens . www.walesonline.co.uk . 28 February 2013 . 28 February 2013.
Web site: Bedford Blues Game is Postponed due to Bad Weather. www.bedwasrfc.co.uk. 18 January 2013. 18 January 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054758/http://www.bedwasrfc.co.uk/News/Article/23587. 4 March 2016. dead.
Web site: B&IC game vs Connacht Eagles Off. https://archive.today/20130419203036/http://www.blackandambers.co.uk/News/Article/23585. dead. 19 April 2013. Newport RFC. 18 January 2013. 18 January 2013.
Web site: Cross Keys v Falcons Postponed. www.newcastlefalcons.co.uk. 18 January 2013. 18 January 2013.
Web site: Leeds Carnegie switch Leinster A game to South Leeds Stadium. Leeds Carnegie. 8 January 2013. 10 January 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130111153450/http://www.leedscarnegie.com/news/21022.php. 11 January 2013. dead. dmy-all.
Web site: Leeds Carnegie 34 Plymouth Albion 16. Leeds Carnegie. 6 January 2013. 10 January 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130109020838/http://www.leedscarnegie.com/rugby/21013.php. 9 January 2013. dead. dmy-all.
Web site: Leinster A game switched to West Park Leeds. Leeds Carnegie. 17 January 2013. 18 January 2013.
Web site: Kick Off will go ahead at 12:45. 19 January 2013. 19 January 2013.
Web site: Pontypridd v Jersey - match postponed. https://archive.today/20130222032442/http://www.ponty.net/pontypridd-v-jersey-match-postponed. dead. 22 February 2013. www.ponty.net. 18 January 2013. 19 January 2013.
Web site: Ponty and Jersey set the date. www.jrfc.je. 21 February 2013. 23 February 2013.
Web site: Titans v Aberavon match postponed. www.rotherhamrugby.co.uk. 18 January 2013. 18 January 2013. https://archive.today/20130421073439/http://www.rotherhamrugby.co.uk/news/756/titans-v-aberavon-match-postponed/. 21 April 2013. dead. dmy-all.
Web site: New Date For Titans v Aberavon. www.rotherhamrugby.co.uk. 5 February 2013. 5 February 2013. https://archive.today/20130421034936/http://www.rotherhamrugby.co.uk/news/771/new-date-for-titans-v-aberavon/. 21 April 2013. dead. dmy-all.
Web site: Nottingham vs Llandovery Postponed. www.nottinghamrugby.co.uk. 18 January 2013. 18 January 2013. https://archive.today/20130421022017/http://www.nottinghamrugby.co.uk/news-events/nottingham-vs-llandovery-postponed.aspx. 21 April 2013. dead. dmy-all.
Web site: British & Irish Cup Pool Tables 2012/13. Cornish Pirates. 18 December 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20140117004540/http://www.cornish-pirates.com/rugby/british_irish_cup_tables.html. 17 January 2014. dead. dmy-all.
Web site: British & Irish Cup Regulations 2012-13. 19 December 2012.
Web site: Dubarry Park announced as the home of the Connacht Eagles . https://archive.today/20130108013058/http://www.connachtrugby.ie/2012101183045/dubarry-park-announced-as-the-home-of-the-connacht-eagles . dead . 8 January 2013 . www.connachtrugby.ie . 11 October 2012 . 15 October 2012 .