2017–18 Premiership Rugby Explained

2017–18 Aviva Premiership
Champions:Saracens (4th title)
Runnersup:Exeter Chiefs
Relegated:London Irish
Matches:135
Top Point Scorer:Owen Farrell (Saracens)
(217 points)
Top Try Scorer:Josh Adams (Worcester),
Vereniki Goneva (Newcastle),
Christian Wade (Wasps)
(13 tries)
Website:www.premiershiprugby.com
Prevseason:2016–17
Nextseason:2018–19

The 2017–18 Aviva Premiership was the 31st season of the top flight English domestic rugby union competition and the eighth and final one to be sponsored by Aviva. The reigning champions entering the season were Exeter Chiefs, who had claimed their first title after defeating Wasps in the 2017 final. London Irish had been promoted as champions from the 2016–17 RFU Championship at the first attempt.

The competition was broadcast by BT Sport for the fifth successive season and with five games also simulcast free-to-air on Channel 5 for the first time. Highlights of each weekend's games were shown on Channel 5 with extended highlights on BT Sport.

Summary

Saracens won their fourth title after defeating Exeter Chiefs in the final at Twickenham after having finished second in the regular season table. London Irish were relegated after being unable to win their penultimate game of the season. It was the third time that London Irish have been relegated from the top flight since the leagues began and the first time since the 2015–16 Premiership Rugby season.

As usual, round 1 included the London Double Header at Twickenham, the fourteenth instance since its inception in 2004.

Teams

Twelve teams compete in the league – the top eleven teams from the previous season and London Irish who were promoted from the 2016–17 RFU Championship after a top flight absence of one year. They replaced Bristol Bears who were relegated after one year in the top flight.

Stadiums and locations

ClubDirector of Rugby/Head CoachCaptainKit supplierStadiumCapacityCity/Area
BathCanterburyThe Recreation Groundalign=center 14,509Bath
Exeter ChiefsSamurai SportswearSandy Parkalign=center 12,800Exeter
GloucesterXBladesKingsholm Stadiumalign=center 16,500Gloucester
HarlequinsAdidasTwickenham Stoopalign=center 14,800Twickenham, Greater London
Leicester TigersKukriWelford Roadalign=center 25,849Leicester
London IrishXBladesMadejski Stadiumalign=center 24,161Reading
Newcastle FalconsISCKingston Parkalign=center 10,200Newcastle upon Tyne
Northampton SaintsMacronFranklin's Gardensalign=center 15,500Northampton
Sale SharksSamurai SportswearAJ Bell Stadiumalign=center 12,000Salford, Greater Manchester
SaracensBLKAllianz Parkalign=center 10,000Hendon,
Greater London
WaspsUnder ArmourRicoh Arenaalign=center 32,609Coventry
Worcester WarriorsUnder ArmourSixways Stadiumalign=center 12,024Worcester

Pre-season

The 2017 edition of the Singha Premiership Rugby Sevens was held on 28 and 29 July at Franklin's Gardens. For the first time all twelve Premiership teams featured together in one venue over two days. Teams were split into four pools of three which played each other in a round-robin basis with the tournament splitting into Cup, Plate and Bowl finals on the second day.

Regular season

Fixtures for the season were announced by Premiership Rugby on 7 July 2017.[1] As is the norm, round 1 included the London Double Header at Twickenham.After success in 2016 a match would once again take place in the United States with Newcastle Falcons hosting Saracens at the Talen Energy Stadium in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania in round 3.[2]

All fixtures are subject to change.[3]

Round 21

Round 22

Play-offs

As in previous seasons, the top four teams in the Premiership table, following the conclusion of the regular season, contest the play-off semi-finals in a 1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd format, with the higher ranking team having home advantage. The two winners of the semi-finals then meet in the Premiership Final at Twickenham on 26 May 2018.

Semi-finals


Final

Leading scorers

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Most points

Source:[4]

RankPlayerClubPoints
1 217
2 170
3 166
4 165
5 149
6 144
7 139
8 124
9 117
10 97

Most tries

Source:[5]

RankPlayerClubTries
1 13
Newcastle
Wasps
4 12
Sale
Harlequins/Sale
7 11
Wasps
Saracens
Saracens

Awards

The winners of the 2018 Premiership Rugby Awards were announced on 16 May 2018.[6]

Nationality!width=140
Nomineewidth=80Clubwidth=70Winner

Vereniki Goneva
Gloucester
Sale
Northampton
Newcastle
Nationality!width=140
Nomineewidth=80Clubwidth=70Winner

Sam Simmonds
Worcester
Gloucester
Exeter
Wasps
Nationality!width=140
Nomineewidth=80Clubwidth=70Winner

Dean Richards
Saracens
Newcastle
Wasps
Nationality!width=140
Nomineewidth=80Clubwidth=70Winner

Mark Lambert
Bath
Saracens
Harlequins
Newcastle
Wasps
!width=120
Nationalitywidth=140Playerwidth=80Positionwidth=80Club
1 Ellis Genge Leicester
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie Exeter
3 John Afoa Gloucester
4 Calum Green Newcastle
5 Ed Slater Gloucester
6 Jamie Gibson Northampton
7 Don Armand Exeter
8 Sam Simmonds Exeter
!width=120
Nationalitywidth=140Playerwidth=80Positionwidth=80Club
9 Faf de Klerk Sale
10 Danny Cipriani Wasps
11 Josh Adams Worcester
12 Matt To'omua Leicester
13 Rob Horne Northampton
14 Vereniki Goneva Newcastle
15 Willie le Roux Wasps

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Premiership Rugby on Twitter: "The answer to the question for many @Bristol_RFC fans - the #AvivaPrem fixtures will be out on 7 July! Who do you want first?" . . 2017-05-02.
  2. Web site: Falcons take Premiership game to Philadelphia. Newcastle Falcons. 17 May 2017.
  3. Web site: Aviva Premiership Rugby Fixtures . Premiership Rugby . 2016-08-03 . 2017-05-02.
  4. Web site: Rugby Union | Aviva Premiership, 2017/18 | Most individual points | ESPN Scrum. Stats.espnscrum.com . 29 April 2018.
  5. Web site: Rugby Union | Aviva Premiership, 2017/18 | Most individual tries | ESPN Scrum. Stats.espnscrum.com. 29 April 2018.
  6. News: NEWCASTLE FALCONS' HIGH-FLYING CAMPAIGN SEES VERENIKI GONEVA AND DEAN RICHARDS WIN TOP PRIZES AT PREMIERSHIP RUGBY AWARDS. Premiership Rugby. 22 May 2019. 25 June 2022.