2016–17 British and Irish Cup explained

2016–17 British and Irish Cup
Countries:	Ireland
Tournament Format:	Round-robin and knockout
Date:	14 October 2016 — 21 April 2017
Teams:	19
Matches:	63
Highest Attendance:	4,813 Ulster A v London Scottish 13 January 2017
Lowest Attendance:	200 (x3)
Top Point Scorer:	Johnny McPhillips Ulster A 62
Top Try Scorer:	Tom Williams Scarlets PS 8
Venue:	Irish Independent Park
Champions:	Munster A
Count:	2
Runner-Up:	Jersey Reds^[1]
Website:	B&I Cup Website
Previous Year:	2015–16
Previous Tournament:	2015–16 British and Irish Cup
Next Year:	2017–18
Next Tournament:	2017–18 British and Irish Cup

The 2016–17 British and Irish Cup was the eighth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. London Welsh were the defending champions having won the 2015–16 final against Yorkshire Carnegie 10–33 at Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds on 10 April 2016. There have been six different winners and six different losing finalists in the seven seasons of its existence. The format of the competition is similar to last season with Scottish clubs not competing. For the second consecutive season the four Welsh teams were the reserve sides of the teams competing in the Pro12 competition instead of clubs from the Welsh Premier Division.

Competition format

The competition format is a pool stage followed by a knockout stage. The pool stage consists of five pools of four teams playing home and away matches. The top side in each pool, plus the three best runners-up, progress to the knockout stage. The eight quarter-finalists are ranked, with top four teams having home advantage. The four winning quarter-finalists progress to the semi-final draw. Most of the matches are played on the same weekends as the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. First round matches began on 14 October 2016 and the final was held on the 21 April 2017.

Participating teams and locations

The allocation of teams is as follows:

– twelve clubs from RFU Championship
– four Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
– four Welsh regions represented by Premiership Select teams.

Club	Country	League	Stadium	Capacity	Area
Bedford Blues	England	RFU Championship	Goldington Road	6,000	Bedford
Cardiff Blues Premiership Select	Wales	N/A	Cardiff Arms Park Sardis Road The Wern	12,125 7,861 4,500	Cardiff Pontypridd Merthyr Tydfil
Connacht Eagles	Ireland	Irish Interprovincial Rugby Championship	Galway Sportsgrounds Dubarry Park	9,500 10,000	Galway Athlone
Cornish Pirates	England	RFU Championship	Mennaye Field	4,000	Penzance
Doncaster Knights	England	RFU Championship	Castle Park	5,000	Doncaster
Ealing Trailfinders	England	RFU Championship	Trailfinders Sports Ground	3,020	West Ealing, London
Jersey Reds		RFU Championship	St. Peter	4,000	Saint Peter
Leinster A	Ireland	Irish Interprovincial Rugby Championship	Donnybrook Stadium	6,000	Dublin
London Irish	England	RFU Championship	Madejski Stadium	7,579	Reading, Berkshire
London Scottish	England	RFU Championship	Richmond Athletic Ground	4,500	Richmond, London
London Welsh	England	RFU Championship	Old Deer Park	5,850	Richmond, London
Munster A	Ireland	Irish Interprovincial Rugby Championship	Towns Park The Showgrounds Old Chapel Irish Independent Park CIT Stadium	400 1,000^[2] N/A 8,200 1,100^[3]	Midleton Ennis Bandon Cork Cork
Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select	Wales	N/A	Pandy Park CCB Centre	3,000 1,000	Crosskeys Ystrad Mynach
Nottingham Rugby	England	RFU Championship	Lady Bay Sports Ground	3,000	Nottingham
Ospreys Premiership Select	Wales	N/A	The Gnoll Talbot Athletic Ground Llynfi Road	5,000 3,000 N/A	Neath Port Talbot Maesteg
Richmond	England	RFU Championship	Richmond Athletic Ground	4,500	Richmond, London
Rotherham Titans	England	RFU Championship	Clifton Lane	2,500	Rotherham
Scarlets Premiership Select	Wales	N/A	Church Bank Playing Fields Carmarthen Park Parc y Scarlets	3,000 3,000 14,870	Llandovery Carmarthen Llanelli
Ulster A	Ireland	Irish Interprovincial Rugby Championship	Shaw's Bridge Eaton Park Kingspan Stadium	1,300 1,000 18,196	Belfast Ballymena Belfast
Yorkshire Carnegie	England	RFU Championship	Sandhill Lane Stadium Moor Lane Silver Royd	N/A N/A 1,950	Selby Pontefract Scalby

Pool stages

Key to colours
	Winner of each pool, advance to quarter-finals.
	Three highest-scoring second-place teams advance to quarter-finals.

Pool 1

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

Postponed from 21 January due to frozen pitch.^[9] ^[10]

^[11]

Pool 2

London Welsh entered liquidation on 8 December 2016 and were disqualified from the competition and their results from rounds 1 and 2 annulled.^[12]

Round 1

London Welsh expelled from the competition

^[4] ----

Round 2

London Welsh expelled from the competition.

Match postponed due to the death of Munster Rugby's head coach Anthony Foley and played on 7 January 2016.^[5] ^[13]

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Round 3

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Round 4

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Round 2 (rescheduled game)

Match postponed from 22 October 2016.

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Round 5

^[8] ----

Round 6

^[10]

Pool 3

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

^[8] ----

Round 6

^[10]

Pool 4

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

^[8] ----

Round 6

^[10]

Pool 5

Round 1

^[4] ----

Round 2

^[5] ----

Round 3

^[6] ----

Round 4

^[7] ----

Round 5

^[8] ----

Round 6

^[10]

Knock-out stage

The eight qualifiers were seeded according to performance in the pool stage. The four top seeds hosted the quarter-finals against the lower seeds, in a 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5 format. If two teams qualified from the same group they could not be drawn together despite the seeding, therefore, Jersey Reds did not play against Ulster A. The quarter-finals were held over the weekend of 10/11/12 March 2017, the semi-finals were held over the weekend of 31 March and 1 & 2 April 2017 and the final was played on 21/22/23 April 2017.

Teams are ranked by:

1 – competition points (4 for a win, 2 for a draw)

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 scored

Seed	Pool winners	Pts	Wins	Pts diff
1		25	5	57
2		23	5	87
3		23	4	71
4		22	4	49
5		19	4	66
Seed	Pool Runners–up	Pts	Wins	Pts diff
6		20	4	89
7		20	4	29
8		20	4	26
9		16	3	123
10		5	1	−25

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 23 January 2017, with the matches to be played on the weekend of 10–13 March 2017.^[16] ^[11] ^[17] ----

Semi-finals

^[18] ^[19] ----

Final

^[20] ^[21]

Attendances

Club	Home matches	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Bedford Blues	3	5,799	1,933	2,218	1,707	32%
Cardiff Premiership Select	3	2,085	695	973	325	11%
Connacht Eagles	3	1,314	438	695	200	5%
Cornish Pirates	3	3,951	1,317	1,426	1,120	33%
Doncaster Knights	2	2,181	1,091	1,207	974	22%
Ealing Trailfinders	4	1,979	495	650	428	16%
Jersey Reds	4	5,623	1,406	1,551	1,151	35%
Leinster A	3	2,641	880	1,018	673	14%
London Irish	5	10,898	2,180	3,109	1,394	9%
London Scottish	3	2,253	751	947	400	17%
London Welsh	1	728	728	728	728	12%
Munster A	6	4,152	692	983	350	42%
Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select	3	1,167	389	652	200	34%
Nottingham Rugby	3	3,242	1,081	1,367	791	36%
Ospreys Premiership Select	3	2,914	971	1,500	542	24%
Richmond	3	1,393	464	512	396	10%
Rotherham Titans	2	1,454	727	750	704	29%
Scarlets Premiership Select	3	850	283	350	250	7%
Ulster A	3	6,314	2,105	4,813	200	47%
Yorkshire Carnegie	3	1,885	628	834	428	43%

^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[10] ^[11] ^[17] ^[18] ^[19] ^[20]

Individual statistics

Points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Appearance figures also include coming on as substitutes (unused substitutes not included).

Top points scorers

Rank	Appearances	Points
1	6	62
2	7	56
3	7	52
4	6	51
5	6	50
6	6	45
7	6	43
8	8	42
9	4	40
9	6	40
10	2	38
11	6	38
10	2	35
10	2	32
12=	4	30
12=	5	30
12=	7	30
14=	3	25
14=	3	25
15=	6	25
15=	7	25
16	4	22

^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[10] ^[11] ^[18] ^[20]

Top try scorers

Rank	Appearances	Tries
1	6	8
2	4	6
3	5	6
4	3	5
5	3	5
6	4	5
7	6	5
	6	5
	6	5
	6	5
8	7	5
9=	6	4
9=	5	4
10=	6	4
10=	7	4
10=		4
10=	4	4
11	2	3
12=	4	3
12=	4	3
13=	5	3
14=	6	3
14=	7	3
14=	7	3

^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[10] ^[11] ^[18] ^[20]

Season records

Team

Largest home win — 77 points84 – 7 Ealing Trailfinders at home to Scarlets Premiership Select on 11 March 2017

Player

Most points in a match — 26 Rory Clegg for Ealing Trailfinders at home to Scarlets Premiership Select on 11 March 2017

Attendances

Highest — 4,813Ulster A at home to London Scottish on 13 January 2017

Lowest Average Attendance — 283 Scarlets Premiership Select)

External links

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

Notes and References

Web site: Jersey reds lose at Irish Independent Park . Jersey Evening Post . 21 April 2017 . 22 April 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170422215552/http://jerseyeveningpost.com/sport/rugby/2017/04/21/live-jersey-rugbys-biggest-night-from-irish-independent-park/ . 22 April 2017 . dead . dmy-all .
Web site: ENNIS GEARS UP FOR MUNSTER A MATCH . Ennis RFC . 19 December 2016 .
Web site: Sport at Cork Institute of Technology. Cork Institute of Technology . 2 April 2017.
News: British & Irish Cup. The RUGBYPaper. 422. Rugby Paper Ltd. 16 October 2016. 30–31 & 40.
News: British & Irish Cup. The RUGBYPaper. 423. Rugby Paper Ltd. 16 October 2016. 28–29 & 38.
News: British & Irish Cup. The RUGBYPaper. 430. Rugby Paper Ltd. 11 December 2016. 28–29 & 38.
News: British & Irish Cup. The RUGBYPaper. 431. Rugby Paper Ltd. 18 December 2016. 28–29 & 38.
News: British & Irish Cup. The RUGBYPaper. 435. Rugby Paper Ltd. 15 January 2016. 28–29 & 38.
Web site: London Scottish v Cardiff Blues postponed . London Scottish FC . 20 January 2017.
News: British & Irish Cup. The RUGBYPaper. 435. Rugby Paper Ltd. 22 January 2016. 28–29 & 38.
News: British & Irish Cup. The RUGBYPaper. 443. Rugby Paper Ltd. 12 March 2017. 26–27 & 40.
Web site: London Welsh: Liquidated club disqualified British & Irish Cup . BBC Sport . 9 December 2016.
Web site: POSTPONEMENT OF B&I MATCH V MUNSTER 'A' . Doncaster Knights . 22 October 2016.
Web site: RESCHEDULED FIXTURE: DONCASTER KNIGHTS V MUNSTER 'A' . Doncaster Knights . 2 November 2016.
News: British & Irish Cup. The RugbyPaper. 434. 8 January 2017. 26 & 34.
Web site: British & Irish Cup Quarter-finals Draw. Cornish Pirates. 24 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170202015858/http://www.cornish-pirates.com/16_17_news/british_irish_cup_quarter_final.html. 2 February 2017. dead.
Web site: Munster A 26 - 3 Ulster A . Munster Rugby . 12 March 2017.
News: British & Irish Cup. The RUGBYPaper. 446. Rugby Paper Ltd. 2 April 2017. 28 & 38.
Web site: MATCH REPORT: LONDON IRISH'S BRITISH & IRISH CUP RUN COMES TO AN END . London Irish . 2 April 2017.
News: British & Irish Cup. The RUGBYPaper. 449. Rugby Paper Ltd. 23 April 2017. 16 & 40.
Web site: B&I CUP FINAL: MUNSTER A DEFEAT JERSEY REDS 29-28 . England Rugby . 21 April 2017.

Rank	Appearances	Points
1	6	62
2	7	56
3	7	52
4	6	51
5	6	50
6	6	45
7	6	43
8	8	42
9	4	40
9	6	40
10	2	38
11	6	38
10	2	35
10	2	32
12=	4	30
12=	5	30
12=	7	30
14=	3	25
14=	3	25
15=	6	25
15=	7	25
16	4	22

Rank	Appearances	Tries
1	6	8
2	4	6
3	5	6
4	3	5
5	3	5
6	4	5
7	6	5
	6	5
	6	5
	6	5
8	7	5
9=	6	4
9=	5	4
10=	6	4
10=	7	4
10=		4
10=	4	4
11	2	3
12=	4	3
12=	4	3
13=	5	3
14=	6	3
14=	7	3
14=	7	3

Rank	Appearances	Points
1	6	62
2	7	56
3	7	52
4	6	51
5	6	50
6	6	45
7	6	43
8	8	42
9	4	40
9	6	40
10	2	38
11	6	38
10	2	35
10	2	32
12=	4	30
12=	5	30
12=	7	30
14=	3	25
14=	3	25
15=	6	25
15=	7	25
16	4	22

Rank	Appearances	Tries
1	6	8
2	4	6
3	5	6
4	3	5
5	3	5
6	4	5
7	6	5
	6	5
	6	5
	6	5
8	7	5
9=	6	4
9=	5	4
10=	6	4
10=	7	4
10=		4
10=	4	4
11	2	3
12=	4	3
12=	4	3
13=	5	3
14=	6	3
14=	7	3
14=	7	3

Rank	Appearances	Points
1	6	62
2	7	56
3	7	52
4	6	51
5	6	50
6	6	45
7	6	43
8	8	42
9	4	40
9	6	40
10	2	38
11	6	38
10	2	35
10	2	32
12=	4	30
12=	5	30
12=	7	30
14=	3	25
14=	3	25
15=	6	25
15=	7	25
16	4	22

Rank	Appearances	Tries
1	6	8
2	4	6
3	5	6
4	3	5
5	3	5
6	4	5
7	6	5
	6	5
	6	5
	6	5
8	7	5
9=	6	4
9=	5	4
10=	6	4
10=	7	4
10=		4
10=	4	4
11	2	3
12=	4	3
12=	4	3
13=	5	3
14=	6	3
14=	7	3
14=	7	3