2014–15 RFU Championship explained

2014–15 RFU Championship
Countries:
Date:	5 September 2014 – 27 May 2015
Champions:	Worcester Warriors
Runnersup:	Bristol
Relegated:	Plymouth Albion
Matches:	138
Highest Attendance:	12,024 Worcester Warriors at home to Bristol on 27 May 2015
Attendance:	377794
Lowest Attendance:	631 Moseley at home to London Scottish on 8 November 2014
Top Point Scorer:	Dougie Flockhart (Doncaster Knights) 229 points
Top Try Scorer:	Mark Bright (London Scottish) 26 tries
Prevseason:	2013–14
Nextseason:	2015–16

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 second tier of the English rugby union league system run by the Rugby Football Union. It is contested by eleven English clubs and one from Jersey in the Channel Islands. This is the second year of the competition's sponsorship with Greene King Brewery, which runs until 2017.^[1] The twelve teams in the RFU Championship also competed in the British and Irish Cup, along with clubs from Ireland and Wales.^[2] Matches in the RFU Championship were broadcast on Sky Sports.

Worcester Warriors finished second during the regular season and became champions after beating Bristol 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.^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5] There are no relegation play–offs; the bottom team is automatically relegated.^[4] Following an agreement with the RFU in 2012, each RFU Championship club will receive £365,000 in funding from the RFU for the season.^[6]

Participating teams and locations

Ten of the teams that competed in the 2013–14 RFU Championship remain in the competition for the 2014–15 RFU Championship. London Welsh were promoted back into the English Premiership after defeating Bristol in the play-off final after being relegated into the RFU Championship the previous year.^[7] They are replaced by Worcester Warriors after they were relegated to the RFU Championship after finishing last in the 2013–14 English Premiership.^[8] Ealing Trailfinders were relegated into National League 1 after finishing bottom of the 2013–14 RFU Championship by one point.^[9] They are replaced by Doncaster Knights, who returned to the RFU Championship at the first opportunity by finishing top of the 2013–14 National League 1 after being relegated in 2013.^[10] 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.^{[11] [12]}

Club	Stadium	Capacity	Area	Captain	DOR/Head Coach
Bedford Blues	Goldington Road	6,000	Bedford, Bedfordshire	Nick Fenton-Wells	Mike Rayner
Bristol	Ashton Gate Stadium	21,497	Bristol	Dwayne Peel	Andy Robinson
Cornish Pirates	Mennaye Field	4,000 (2,200 Seats)	Penzance, Cornwall	Chris Morgan	Ian Davies
Doncaster Knights	Castle Park rugby stadium	5,000	Doncaster, South Yorkshire	Michael Hills	Clive Griffiths
Jersey	St. Peter	5,000	Saint Peter, Jersey	Alex Rae	Harvey Biljon
London Scottish	Athletic Ground, Richmond	4,500	Richmond, London	Mark Bright	Mike Friday
Moseley	Billesley Common	3,000+	Birmingham, West Midlands	Mike Powell	Kevin Maggs
Nottingham Rugby	Meadow Lane Lady Bay Sports Ground	19,588 2,000 (est)	Nottingham, Nottinghamshire	Brent Wilson	Martin Haag
Plymouth Albion	The Brickfields	8,500	Plymouth, Devon	Iain Grieve	Graham Dawe
Rotherham Titans	Clifton Lane Abbeydale Park	2,500 3,200	Rotherham, South Yorkshire Sheffield, South Yorkshire	Tom Holmes	Lee Blackett
Worcester Warriors	Sixways Stadium	12,024	Worcester, Worcestershire	GJ van Velze	Dean Ryan
Yorkshire Carnegie	Headingley Carnegie Stadium	21,062	Leeds, West Yorkshire	Ryan Burrows	Ian McGeechan

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

^{[21] [22]} ----

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

^[33] ----

Round 21

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Round 22

^[35]

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

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• 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

FB 15 Jack Wallace RW 14 Charlie Amesbury OC 13 Gareth Maule IC 12 LW 11 David Lemi FH 10 SH 9 Dwayne Peel (c) N8 8 Mitch Eadie OF 7 Jack Lam BF 6 RL 5 Mark Sorenson LL 4 TP 3 HK 2 LP 1 Kyle Traynor Replacements: HK 16 TP 17 LK 18 FL 19 SH 20 FB 21 CE 22 Coach: Andy Robinson

FB 15 Chris Pennell RW 14 Tom Biggs OC 13 Alex Grove IC 12 Ryan Mills LW 11 FH 10 Ryan Lamb SH 9 Jean-Baptiste Bruzulier N8 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze (c) OF 7 Sam Betty BF 6 Mike Williams RL 5 Jonathan Thomas LL 4 TP 3 HK 2 LP 1 Replacements: HK 16 LP 17 TP 18 FL 19 SH 20 Jamie Shillcott CE 21 Ravai Fatiaki WG 22 Coach: Dean Ryan

Touch judges: Luke Pearce Ian Tempest Television match official: Graham Hughes

Second leg

FB 15 Chris Pennell RW 14 Tom Biggs OC 13 IC 12 Ryan Mills LW 11 FH 10 Ryan Lamb SH 9 Jean-Baptiste Bruzulier N8 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze (c) OF 7 BF 6 Mike Williams RL 5 Jonathan Thomas LL 4 James Percival TP 3 HK 2 LP 1 Replacements: HK 16 LP 17 TP 18 FL 19 SH 20 Jamie Shillcott CE 21 Ravai Fatiaki FB 22 Coach: Dean Ryan

FB 15 RW 14 Charlie Amesbury OC 13 Jack Tovey IC 12 Ben Mosses LW 11 David Lemi FH 10 Nicky Robinson SH 9 Dwayne Peel (c) N8 8 Mitch Eadie OF 7 BF 6 Marco Mama RL 5 LL 4 Ben Glynn TP 3 HK 2 LP 1 Kyle Traynor Replacements: HK 16 TP 17 LK 18 FL 19 Olly Robinson SH 20 Tom Kessell FB 21 CE 22 Gareth Maule Coach: Andy Robinson

Touch judges: Luke Pearce Greg Garner Television match official: David Grashoff

Worcester win 59 – 58 on aggregate

Attendances

• Includes play-off games where applicable

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Bedford Blues	11	27,454	2,496	4,401	1,833	42%
Bristol Rugby	13	104,710	8,055	12,010	6,428	37%
Cornish Pirates	11	16,270	1,479	2,390	1,010	37%
Doncaster Knights	11	18,024	1,639	3,676	1,252	33%
Jersey	11	22,997	2,091	2,909	1,630	42%
London Scottish	12	19,935	1,661	2,108	1,087	37%
Moseley	11	12,077	1,098	2,306	631	37%
Nottingham Rugby	11	14,053	1,278	1,650	1,046	34%
Plymouth Albion	11	18,727	1,702	3,982	1,175	20%
Rotherham Titans	12	18,885	1,574	3,227	1,018	64%
Worcester Warriors	13	84,376	6,490	12,024	3,826	54%
Yorkshire Carnegie	11	20,286	1,844	2,705	1,145	9%

^{[36] [37]}

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

Rank	Player	Team	Appearances	Points
1			22	229
2			24	216
3			21	196
4			22	170
5			20	158
6			21	157
7			23	130
8			15	128
9			15	117
10			18	115

^[35]

Top try scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Appearances	Tries
1			23	26
2			20	15
3			17	14
			22	14
4			19	13
5			18	12
			18	12
6			14	11
			21	11
			23	11
			24	11

^[33]

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.^[38]

• 15 Paul Jarvis (Doncaster Knights)
• 14 Sam Smith (Worcester Warriors)
• 13 Max Stelling (Worcester Warriors)
• 12 Andy Symons (Worcester Warriors)
• 11 David Lemi (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 (London Scottish)

Season records

Team

Largest home win — 51 pts65 - 14 Cornish Pirates at home to Bedford Blues on 23 November 2014

Largest away win — 61 pts69 - 8 Worcester Warriors away to Cornish Pirates on 18 April 2015

Most points scored — 69 pts69 - 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 — 8Worcester 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 — 1N/A - multiple teams

^{[39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46]}

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) Sam Smith 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 Andy Symons for Worcester Warriors away to Cornish Pirates on 18 April 2015

Most penalties in a match — 7 (x2) Sam Olver 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 — 1N/A - multiple players

^{[47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] [54] [55] [56]}

Attendances

Highest — 12,024Worcester Warriors at home to Bristol on 27 May 2015

Lowest — 631Moseley at home to London Scottish on 8 November 2014

Highest Average Attendance — 8,055Bristol Rugby

Lowest Average Attendance — 1,098Moseley

^{[36] [37]}

External links

• RFU Championship news

Notes and References

1. Greene King IPA to sponsor RFU Championship . . 26 June 2013 . 5 June 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130701022502/http://www.rfu.com/news/2013/june/news-articles/260613_greene_king_championship . 1 July 2013 .
2. Web site: Rugby Football Union to fund travel for Cup games . BBC Sport . 2010-11-04 . 2014-06-05.
3. News: Marsh. Paddy. It's all over for Albion. Cornwall Independent. 19 April 2015.
4. News: Championship: RFU to abolish play-off pool stages . BBC Sport. 17 May 2012 . 5 June 2014.
5. Web site: Premiership is no go for now admits chief Irvine . Bedfordshire News . 2011-03-13 . 2014-06-05.
6. Web site: Pilnick . Brent . RFU unveils new funding deal for Championship clubs . BBC Sport . 2012-08-22 . 2014-06-05.
7. Web site: Bristol 20–21 London Welsh – Determined London Welsh bounce straight back into the Premiership . ESPN . 2014-06-05.
8. Web site: Press Association . Premiership roundup: Relegated Worcester edge out Gloucester . The Guardian . 2014-06-05.
9. Web site: Pryor . Tim . Jersey secure RFU Championship survival after 41–31 Bedford win . BBC Sport . 2014-04-26 . 2014-06-05.
10. Web site: GOING UP! Doncaster Knights seal promotion to Championship . Doncaster Free Press . 2014-04-26 . 2014-06-05.
11. Web site: Championship table . Sky Sports . 2014-06-07.
12. Web site: Nottingham Rugby to leave Meadow Lane home in 2015. BBC Sport. 11 October 2014.
13. News: Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 312. 7 September 2014. 20–21 & 36.
14. News: Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 313. 14 September 2014. 20–21 & 36.
15. News: Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 314. 21 September 2014. 24–25 & 34.
16. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 315. 28 September 2014. 24–25 & 34.
17. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 317. 5 October 2014. 26–27 & 36.
18. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 321. 9 November 2014. 24–25 & 36.
19. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 322. Rugby Paper Ltd. 16 November 2014. 28–29 & 38.
20. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 323. Rugby Paper Ltd. 23 November 2014. 28–29 & 38.
21. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 327. Rugby Paper Ltd. 21 December 2014 . 28–29 & 38.
22. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 328. Rugby Paper Ltd. 28 December 2014 . 28–29 & 38.
23. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 329. Rugby Paper Ltd. 5 January 2014 . 22–23 & 32.
24. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 330. Rugby Paper Ltd. 11 January 2015 . 24–25 & 34.
25. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 331. Rugby Paper Ltd. 18 January 2015 . 30–31 & 38.
26. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 333. Rugby Paper Ltd. 1 February 2015. 14–15 & 38.
27. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 334. Rugby Paper Ltd. 8 February 2015. 26–27 & 36.
28. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 335. Rugby Paper Ltd. 15 February 2015. 30–31 & 38.
29. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 336. Rugby Paper Ltd. 22 February 2015. 26–27 & 38.
30. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 338. Rugby Paper Ltd. 8 March 2015. 28–29 & 38.
31. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 340. Rugby Paper Ltd. 22 March 2015. 30–31 & 38.
32. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 341. Rugby Paper Ltd. 29 March 2015. 20–21 & 38.
33. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 343. Rugby Paper Ltd. 12 April 2015. 28–29 & 38.
34. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 344. Rugby Paper Ltd. 19 April 2015. 24–25 & 34.
35. News: RFU Championship. The RUGBYPaper. 345. Rugby Paper Ltd. 26 April 2015. 30–31 & 38.
36. Web site: Championship 14/15 Home attendance . Rugby Statbunker. 25 April 2015.
37. Web site: Championship Playoffs 14/15 Home attendance . Rugby Statbunker. 27 May 2015.
38. Web site: Championship Dream XV 2014/15 . RFU. 1 June 2015.
39. Web site: Championship 14/15 Most tries in a match (Team) . Rugby Statbunker . 25 April 2015 .
40. Web site: Championship Playoffs 14/15 Most tries in a match (Team) . Rugby Statbunker . 27 May 2015 .
41. Web site: Championship 14/15 Most conversions in a match (Team) . Rugby Statbunker . 25 April 2015 .
42. Web site: Championship Playoffs 14/15 Most conversions in a match (Team) . Rugby Statbunker . 27 May 2015 .
43. Web site: Championship 14/15 Most penalties in a match (Team) . Rugby Statbunker . 25 April 2015 .
44. Web site: Championship Playoffs 14/15 Most penalties in a match (Team) . Rugby Statbunker . 27 May 2015 .
45. Web site: Championship 14/15 Most drop goals in a match (Team) . Rugby Statbunker . 25 April 2015 .
46. Web site: Championship Playoffs 14/15 Most drop goals in a match (Team) . Rugby Statbunker . 27 May 2015 .
47. Web site: Championship 14/15 Most points in a match (Player) . Rugby Statbunker . 25 April 2015.
48. Web site: Championship Playoffs 14/15 Most points in a match (Player) . Rugby Statbunker . 27 May 2015 .
49. Web site: Championship 14/15 Most tries in a match (Player) . Rugby Statbunker . 25 April 2015 .
50. Web site: Championship Playoffs 14/15 Most tries in a match (Player) . Rugby Statbunker . 27 May 2015 .
51. Web site: Championship 14/15 Most conversions in a match (Player) . Rugby Statbunker . 25 April 2015 .
52. Web site: Championship Playoffs 14/15 Most conversions in a match (Player) . Rugby Statbunker . 27 May 2015 .
53. Web site: Championship 14/15 Most penalties in a match (Player) . Rugby Statbunker . 25 April 2015 .
54. Web site: Championship Playoffs 14/15 Most penalties in a match (Player) . Rugby Statbunker . 27 May 2015 .
55. Web site: Championship 14/15 Most drop goals in a match (Player) . Rugby Statbunker . 25 April 2015.
56. Web site: Championship Playoffs 14/15 Most drop goals in a match (Player) . Rugby Statbunker . 27 May 2015 .