| 2013–14 British and Irish Cup | |
| Countries: |  Ireland |
| Tournament Format: | Round-robin and knockout |
| Date: | 11 October 2013 – 23 May 2014 |
| Teams: | 24 |
| Matches: | 79 |
| Top Point Scorer: | Cathal Marsh (Leinster A) (100 points)[1] |
| Top Try Scorer: | Aaron Warren (Llanelli) (9 tries)[2] |
| Venue: | Donnybrook |
| Attendance2: | 1,400 |
| Champions: | Leinster A |
| Count: | 2 |
| Runner-Up: | Leeds Carnegie |
| Previous Year: | 2012–13 |
| Previous Tournament: | 2012–13 British and Irish Cup |
| Next Year: | 2014–15 |
| Next Tournament: | 2014–15 British and Irish Cup |
The 2013–14 British and Irish Cup was the fifth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. Leinster A were the defending champions having won the 2012–13 Final with a 78th minute penalty by Noel Reid to beat Newcastle Falcons 18–17 at their home ground Kingston Park.[3] [4] There has been four different winners and four different losing finalists of the competition in the first four seasons of its existence.
The format of the competition has been changed once again, with Welsh participation being reduced to just four teams (down from 12 in the previous season). The Welsh teams were selected based on regional play-offs involving the 2013–14 Premier Division clubs at the start of the season. This process yielded Pontypridd to represent the Cardiff Blues Region, Cross Keys to represent the Dragons Region, Aberavon to represent the Ospreys Region, and Llanelli to represent the Scarlets Region.
Matches in the competition proper were played on the same weekends as the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup. First round matches began on 11 October 2013 and the final was held on 23 May 2014. Leinster A beat Leeds Carnegie 44 – 17 in the final and retained the cup they won in the previous season – the first team to win the cup for a second time.[5] [6]
The allocation of teams was as follows:
– 4 Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams| width=20% | England | width=20% | Ireland | width=20% | Scotland | width=20% | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Connacht Eagles Leinster A Munster A Ulster Ravens | |||||||
Welsh participation was reduced from 12 teams (in the previous season) to just four. The Welsh teams were selected based on regional play-offs involving the 2013–14 Premier Division clubs at the start of the season.[7] Teams gained home advantage depending upon their finishing position at the end of the 2012–13 season. For example, in the Cardiff Blues region, Cardiff RFC (8th in the 2012-13 Welsh Premier Division) traveled to Sardis Road to play Pontypridd RFC (1st).[8] Likewise, Llanelli RFC (3rd) hosted Carmarthen Quins RFC (6th) with the winner (Llanelli) travelling to Llandovery RFC (2nd) to contest the right to represent the Scarlets region.[9]
The competition format is a pool stage followed by a knockout stage. The pool stage consists of six pools of four teams playing home and away matches. The top side in each pool, plus the two best runners-up, will progress to the knockout stage. The eight quarter-finalists will be ranked, with teams ranked 1-4 having home advantage. The four winning quarter finalists will progress to the semi-final draw.[7] Matches will take place on the same weekends as the Heineken and Amlin Cups.
The fixture weekends have been announced.[11]
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The six pool winners, and the two best runners-up, proceed to the knock out stages. The ranking criteria of the quarter finalists has been altered slightly from earlier seasons. Previously, the six pool winners were seeded 1-6 and the two runners up as 7 and 8. This meant that the best runners-up were automatically ranked 7 and 8 even if they had a better playing record than some of the teams ranked 1–6. This is no longer the case.
There was a draw for the quarter-final stage, which took place on 27 January 2014. The top four seeds (Leinster A, Leeds Carnegie, Cornish Pirates and Bristol) will have home advantage.[16]
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 the number of wins are equal, aggregate points difference
4. where the aggregate points difference are equal, greatest number of points scoredThere are further criteria that can be applied if necessary.[17]
The draw for the quarter-finals was carried out on 27 January 2014.[18]
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The draw for the semi-finals was carried out on 27 January 2014.[18]
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On 14 April, it was announced that the final will be played at the home of the winner of the Pontypridd / Leinster A semi-final. This will be played on Friday 23 May, at a time to be decided.[19]
| Rank | Player | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cathal Marsh | Leinster A | 119 | |
| 2 | Simon Humberstone | 92 | ||
| 3 | Glyn Hughes | 63 | ||
| 4 | Ulster Ravens | 62 | ||
| 5 | 58 | |||
| London Welsh | ||||
| 7 | Aaron Warren | 45 | ||
| 8 | Adrian Jarvis | 44 | ||
| Finn Russell | Ayr | |||
| 10 | Munster A | 41 |
| Rank | Player | Team | Tries | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Warren | Llanelli | 9 | |||||
| 2 | Andy Short | Bristol | 7 | |||||
| 3 | Leeds Carnegie | 6 | ||||||
| Ronan O'Mahony | Munster A | |||||||
| 5 | 5 | |||||||
| Iain Grieve | Bristol | |||||||
| Josh Griffin | Leeds Carnegie | |||||||
| 8 | Charlie Amesbury | Bristol | 4 | |||||
| Aaron Carpenter | Cornish Pirates | |||||||
| Cornish Pirates | ||||||||
| Auguy Slowik | Bristol | Leeds Carnegie | Darragh Fanning | Leinster A | Steve McColl | Leeds Carnegie--> |