2021–22 Admiral Championship | |
Date: | 13 November 2021 - 7 May 2022 |
Champions: | Bargoed |
Matches: | 79 (out of a scheduled 91) |
Prevseason: | 2019–20 |
Nextseason: | 2022–23 |
The 2021–22 WRU Championship (or Admiral Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the WRU Championship, the second tier of club rugby in Wales run by the Welsh Rugby Union. The league expanded to a 14 team format, up from 12 in previous seasons. The league was won by Bargoed for the second time; the first being the 2014–15 season.
The season was truncated and not all fixtures fulfilled. Ultimately, this had no bearing on the title as Bargoed could not be mathematically caught.
The large amount of cancelled fixtures caused friction from some clubs within the league, the most vocal being Pontypool, who called for the entire WRU Community Game Board to resign.[1]
For 2021-22, instead of a traditional league, each team played each other team on a home or away basis for a total of 13 games. League points were awarded as such – 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw and 0 for a loss. Teams could also earn an additional bonus point by scoring four or more tries in a match and/or losing by less than seven points. The club with the most points after 13 games were declared the winners, although not all clubs completed their full 13 matches. As the previous two seasons were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no promotion or relegation this year.
As the previous seasons (2019–20 & 2020–21) were cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic, no teams were promoted or relegated from any league. Therefore, the same 14 teams that competed the previous season will compete again this season.
Club | Stadium | Capacity | Area | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bargoed | Bargoed Park | 1,500 | Bargoed, Caerphilly | |
Beddau | Mount Pleasant Park | unknown | Beddau, Rhondda Cynon Taf | |
Bedwas | Bridge Field | 2,000 | Bedwas, Caerphilly | |
Cardiff Metropolitan University | Cyncoed Campus | 1,620 | Cyncoed, Cardiff | |
Cross Keys | Pandy Park | 3,000 | Crosskeys, Caerphilly | |
Glamorgan Wanderers | Memorial Ground | 3,000 | Ely, Cardiff | |
Maesteg Quins | South Parade Playing Fields | unknown | Maesteg, Bridgend County Borough | |
Narberth | Lewis Lloyd Ground | unknown | Narberth, Pembrokeshire | |
Neath | The Gnoll | 6,000 | Neath, Neath Port Talbot | |
Pontypool | Pontypool Park | 8,800 | Pontypool, Torfaen | |
Tata Steel | Tata Sports and Social Club | unknown | Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot | |
Trebanos | Trebanos Park | unknown | Trebanos, Neath Port Talbot | |
Ystalyfera | Ynysdarren Park | unknown | Ystalyfera, Neath Port Talbot | |
Ystrad Rhondda | Gelligaled Park | unknown | Ystrad, Rhondda Cynon Taf |