Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 11 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby union system.
Reading R.F.C. is an English rugby union club, which runs a total of 21 sides across Men's, Women's, Girls and Junior rugby. The 1st XV play in Southern Counties North. The club is located in the village of Sonning, on the outskirts of Reading. The 1st XV is coached by Ben Wills, assisted by defence coach Gareth Williams, 2nd XV coach Jack Lynch and 3rd XV coach Gareth Tully. The coaching team is headed up by Director of Rugby Andrew Arter
Nuneaton RFC is an English rugby union club. They were founded in 1879 and play at Liberty Way in Nuneaton. They currently play in the Regional 1 Midlands, a fifth tier league in the English rugby union system.
Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system.
Regional 1 South West is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When this division began in 1987 it was known as South West Division 1. The format of the league was changed at the beginning of the 2009–10 season following reorganisation by the Rugby Football Union, and the name change from National League 3 to South West Premier was introduced for the 2017–18 season by the RFU in order to lessen confusion for what is a series of regional leagues. Regional 1 South West, is the highest regional rugby union league covering South West England. The club finishing in first place is automatically promoted to National League 2 West. Relegated teams drop down to either Regional 2 South West or Regional 2 Severn, depending on location.
Regional 2 East Midlands is an English level 6 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in the eastern region of the Midlands, including sides from Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and occasionally Bedfordshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire. When this division began in 1987 it was known as Midlands 2 East, and has been restructured several times, most notably as a single division known as Midlands 2 between 1992 and 2000, and Midlands 1 East before regionalising again to its present format as part of England Rugby's Future Competition Structure change at the start of the 2022-23 season.
Midlands 3 West (South) is a level 8 English Rugby Union league and level 3 of the Midlands League, made up of teams from the southern part of the West Midlands region including clubs from parts of Birmingham and the West Midlands, Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and sometimes Oxfordshire, with home and away matches played throughout the season. When this division began in 1992 it was known as Midlands West 2, until it was split into two regional divisions called Midlands 4 West (North) and Midlands 4 West (South) ahead of the 2000–01 season. Further restructuring of the Midlands leagues ahead of the 2009–10 season, led to the current name of Midlands 3 West (South).
North Premier was a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the fourteen teams drawn from across Northern England. The other leagues at this level were London & South East Premier, Midlands Premier and South West Premier. The RFU reorganised the level five leagues for season 2022–23, with an increase from four to six and reducing the teams in each from fourteen to twelve. The teams in this league now play in either Regional 1 North East or Regional 1 North West.
The 2006–07 National Division Three North was the seventh season of the fourth division (north) of the English domestic rugby union competition using the name National Division Three North. New teams to the division included Orrell who were relegated from the 2005–06 National Division Two while promoted teams included Rugby Lions who came up as champions of Midlands Division 1 as well as Morley (champions) and West Park St Helens who came up from North Division 1. The league system was 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and additional bonus points being awarded for scoring 4 or more tries and/or losing within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions would go straight up into National Division Two while the runners up would have a one-game playoff against the runners up from National Division Three South for the final promotion place.
National League 2 North is one of three level four leagues in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the northern half of England, the North. The remainder of England is covered by the two counterpart leagues National League 2 East and National League 2 West. The champion club is promoted to National One. Relegation is to either the Regional 1 Midlands or North Premier leagues, depending on where the teams are based. Hull are the current champions.
National One, is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage League National Division Three when founded in 1987. Cambridge are the current champions.
National League 2 South was a level four league in the English rugby union system until the end of season 2021–22. It was one of two leagues at this level, with its counterpart, National League 2 North, covering the north of England. The format of the league was changed at the beginning of the 2009–10 season following reorganisation by the Rugby Football Union. The champions were promoted to National League 1. The runner-up play in a promotion play-off with the runner-up of National League 2 North; the team with the best record having home advantage. The bottom three teams were relegated, to either South West Premier or London & South East Premier. Esher are the current and final champions.
Regional 1 Midlands is a level five semi-professional league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When this division began in 1987 it was known as Midlands Division 1. The format of the league was changed at the beginning of the 2009–10 season following a reorganisation by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), and the name change from National League 3 to Premier was introduced for the 2017–18 season by the RFU in order to lessen confusion for what is a series of regional leagues. Regional 1 Midlands is the highest regional rugby union league in the English Midlands.
The 2011–12 Aviva Premiership was the 25th season of the top flight English domestic rugby union competition and the second one to be sponsored by Aviva. The reigning champions entering the season were Saracens, who had claimed their first title after defeating Leicester Tigers in the 2011 final. Worcester Warriors had been promoted as champions from the 2010–11 RFU Championship at the first attempt.
The 1996–97 English Premiership was the tenth season of the top flight of rugby union in England. It was the first professional season in English rugby union history.
Courage Division 5 was a short lived English rugby union competition created as a tier 5 regional competition divided into Courage Division 5 North and Courage Division 5 South. In 1993 the RFU decided to change the whole league structure, with a new national league replacing the old North / South regional system which would become the aforementioned Courage Division 5. This led to twelve out of thirteen teams in both Courage Division 4 regions dropping into Courage Division 5 while the league winners joined Courage Division 4 along with eight teams from Courage Division 3. This system continued to the end of the 1995–96 season when the league was restructured once again – with Courage Division 4 being abolished as a national competition reverting to the old system only being renamed as National League 4 North and National League 4 South.
The 2003–04 National Division Two was the fourth version of the third division of the English rugby union league system using the name National Division Two. New teams to the division included Moseley and Rugby Lions who were relegated from the 2002–03 National Division One while promoted teams included Nuneation who came up as champions of the 2002–03 National Division Three North with Rosslyn Park (champions) and Lydney (playoffs) coming up from the 2002–03 National Division Three South. This season would be the last using the league points system of 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.
The 2000–01 National Division Two was the fourteenth full season of rugby union within the third tier of the English league system currently known as National League 1. New teams to the division included West Hartlepool and Rugby Lions who were relegated from the 1999–2000 Allied Dunbar Premiership Two while promoted teams included Kendal and Esher who were promoted as champions of National Division Three North and National Division Three South respectively. The league system was 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.
The 2005–06 National Division Three South was the sixth season of the fourth division (south) of the English domestic rugby union competition using the name National Division Three South. New teams to the division included Bracknell and Rosslyn Park who were relegated from 2004–05 National Division Two while Cambridge came up as champions of London Division 1 along with Cinderford (champions) and Bridgwater & Albion (playoffs) who were promoted from South West Division 1. The league system was 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and additional bonus points being awarded for scoring 4 or more tries and/or losing within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions would go straight up into National Division Two while the runners up would have a one-game playoff against the runners up from National Division Three North for the final promotion place.
The 2018–19 Gallagher Premiership was the 32nd season of the top flight English domestic rugby union competition and the first one to be sponsored by Gallagher. The reigning champions entering the season were Saracens, who had claimed their fourth title after defeating Exeter Chiefs in the 2018 final. Bristol Bears had been promoted as champions from the 2017–18 RFU Championship at the first attempt.
