2019–20 WRU Championship explained

2019–20 WRU National Championship
Date:7 September 2019 – 14 March 2020 (cancelled)
Champions:NONE
Relegated:NONE
Matches:115 (out of a scheduled 182)
Prevseason:2018–19
Nextseason:2021–22

The 2019–20 WRU Championship was the eighth season of the WRU Championship, the second tier of club rugby in Wales run by the Welsh Rugby Union. The league expanded to 14 teams from 12 seasons for the previous three seasons.

The season was cancelled on 20 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.[1]

Structure

Each team in the Championship will play each other twice on a home and away basis for a total of 26 matches played each. The team with the most points at the end of the season will be declared the winners. The winning club will be promoted to the 2020-21 WRU Premiership, provided they meet the "A" License criteria. At the end of the season, the bottom four clubs will be relegated.

Teams

At the end of last season, Bedlinog, Newcastle Emlyn, Newbridge and Rhydyfelin were all relegated to Division 1 (specific league based on geographic location). The winners of each Division 1 entered into play-offs to decide the remaining two places. The winners of the two Eastern divisions faced each other as did the winners of the two Western divisions. The winners were East Central champions Glamorgan Wanderers and West Central champions Ystalyfera who beat Brecon and Felinfoel respectively. Joining these teams are the four clubs relegated from last season's Premiership. These clubs are Bedwas, Cross Keys, Bargoed and Neath.

Promotion play-offs

----Glamorgan Wanderers won 57–40 on aggregate.Ystalyfera won 64–48 on aggregate.

ClubStadiumCapacityArea
BargoedBargoed Park1,500Bargoed, Caerphilly
BeddauMount Pleasant ParkunknownBeddau, Rhondda Cynon Taf
BedwasBridge Field2,000Bedwas, Caerphilly
Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityCyncoed Campus1,620Cyncoed, Cardiff
Cross KeysPandy Park3,000Crosskeys, Caerphilly
Glamorgan WanderersMemorial Ground3,000Ely, Cardiff
Maesteg QuinsSouth Parade Playing FieldsunknownMaesteg, Bridgend County Borough
NarberthLewis Lloyd GroundunknownNarberth, Pembrokeshire
NeathThe Gnoll6,000Neath, Neath Port Talbot
PontypoolPontypool Park8,800Pontypool, Torfaen
Tata SteelTata Sports and Social ClubunknownPort Talbot, Neath Port Talbot
TrebanosTrebanos ParkunknownTrebanos, Neath Port Talbot
YstalyferaYnysdarren ParkunknownYstalyfera, Neath Port Talbot
Ystrad RhonddaGelligaled ParkunknownYstrad, Rhondda Cynon Taf

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Coronavirus: Welsh Rugby Union cancels all league and cup games . BBC Sport . 21 March 2020.