Super 6 (rugby union)

Last updated
Super 6
Current season, competition or edition:
Rugby football current event.svg 2022–23 Super 6
Sport Rugby union
Founded2019
No. of teams6
CountryFlag of Scotland.svg  Scotland
Most recent
champion(s)		Watsonians
Most titles1 (Ayrshire Bulls, Watsonians)
Level on pyramid1
Official website http://www.scottishrugby.org/

The Super 6 is a professional league for Scottish rugby union clubs, which began in 2019. As of 2022, the league consists of three competitions;

Contents

The league is designed to bridge the gap between the amateur grade and the fully professional United Rugby Championship teams.

Six clubs contest the league. In 2019, they entered into a contract for 5 years and there is planned to be no relegation in that period.

The top level of club rugby in Scotland consists of the two professional teams - Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors - that play in the United Rugby Championship competition. They assign their players to the clubs below in a Pro-Draft; so that they can still play when not used by the professional sides. [2]

Scotland South.png
Red pog.svg
Edinburgh
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
class=notpageimage|
Location of teams in 2022–23 Super 6
Edinburgh UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
class=notpageimage|
Location of teams in 2022–23 Super 6 within Edinburgh

Concept

Six clubs were awarded licences to play in the new Super 6 league by the Scottish Rugby Union. [3]

The idea of the Super 6 was to bridge a perceived gap between the Scottish Premiership and the then Pro14 league (now the United Rugby Championship league) level to aid player progression. The six clubs will be turned into professional clubs with a squad budget of £125,000 each. Every team will have a 35-man squad. [4]

Seasons

The Super 6 tournament began in November 2019 after the rugby world cup of that year. [5]

It was planned that the clubs would play 20 fixtures in total: 10 fixtures against one another home and away and then 2 play-off matches - which would conclude the Super 6 fixtures. A further 8 matches scheduled against non-Scottish clubs would then be played by the Super 6 clubs but this was to be outside the Super 6 competition. [4]

The first season was curtailed after the league finished and there were no play-off matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament did not run in season 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ayrshire Bulls became the inaugural Super 6 champions after defeating The Southern Knights at Dam Park in the playoff final. [6]

In November 2021, plans were announced that the tournament would be expanded in 2022 to include two new teams, including one from Glasgow and English based RFU Championship London Scottish. [7]

Criticism

There has been a number of controversies surrounding the creation of the new league:- some argued that the gap between the Scottish Premiership and Pro14 isn't that great. For a so-called 'amateur' league, Scottish Premiership sides often played well against professional sides. Glasgow Hawks famously beating Toulouse in February 1998 a case in point. [8]

The main criticism of the new league is the geographical split. No less than half the league's clubs are based in Edinburgh. There are no clubs from Scotland's biggest city, Glasgow - even though Glasgow Hawks did apply to join; and rugby union in the city markedly on the up with Glasgow Warriors regularly selling out Scotstoun Stadium and providing the Pro14 with their highest ever attendance for a final. Similarly there are no clubs from Aberdeen, Dundee or Inverness represented, although only Dundee HSFP applied to join out of the clubs from those cities. This, it is argued, does not help the game grow in Scotland. [9]

Another argument is money. The initial money, capped by the Scottish Rugby Union, will only provide players with essentially a part time wage. Thus, most will need to secure other employment. Again, sceptics may point to this as not helping the players develop. [9]

Clubs

TeamStadiumCapacityCity/AreaAss. Club
Ayrshire Bulls Millbrae 8,502 Ayr, South Ayrshire Ayr RFC
Boroughmuir Bears Meggetland 11,789 Edinburgh Boroughmuir RFC
Heriot's Rugby Goldenacre 10,098 Edinburgh Heriot's Rugby Club
Southern Knights The Greenyards 16,024 Melrose, Scottish Borders Melrose RFC
Stirling Wolves Bridgehaugh Park 10,589 Stirling, Scotland Stirling County RFC
Watsonian Myreside 13,799 Edinburgh Watsonian RFC

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Rugby Championship</span> Annual rugby union competition in Europe and South Africa

The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South African teams previously from the SANZAR Super Rugby competition. The league is one of the three major professional leagues in Europe, the most successful teams from which go forward to compete in the European Rugby Champions Cup. Since 2022–23, despite the name, South African teams have been eligible to qualify for European competition, and one South African place is guaranteed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh Rugby</span> Scottish rugby union club, based in Edinburgh

Edinburgh Rugby is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh plays most of its home games at Edinburgh Rugby Stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow Warriors</span> Scottish rugby union club, based in Glasgow

Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became the first Scottish team to win a major trophy in rugby union's professional era. The side is known for its fast, dynamic and attacking style of play, using offloads and quick rucks. Defensively the club prides itself on its 'Fortress Scotstoun' where the club play at home.

Watsonian Football Club is a rugby union club based in Edinburgh and part of the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is connected with George Watson's College as a club for former pupils, and changed its policy in the 1980s to be a fully open club, welcoming players of all abilities regardless of whether they attended the school or not. It is one of a small number of rugby union clubs entitled to call itself a 'football club', rather than a 'rugby football club'. Watsonians run a number of sides; the top male side plays in the FOSROC Super 6 tournament, the Women's side plays in the Tennents Scottish Women's Premiership Scottish Rugby's Women's League

Ayr Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club. Its professional men's side currently plays as Ayrshire Bulls in the Super 6 competition; and its women's side play in the Scottish Womens National One. The club also runs a "Club XV" which competes in the Tennent's National League 1, a 2nd XV "Ayr-Millbrae", which plays in the SRU West Reserve League Division 1, and various age group teams, from age 4, up to age 18.

The Scottish Premiership is the highest level club division in Scotland's national rugby union league divisions, and therefore part of the Scottish League Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Scotland</span> Popular team sport

Rugby union in Scotland is a popular team sport. Scotland's national side today competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and the Rugby World Cup. The first ever international rugby match was played on 27 March 1871, at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh, when Scotland defeated England in front of 4,000 people. Professional clubs compete in the United Rugby Championship, European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup, while the Scottish League Championship exists for over 200 amateur and semi-professional clubs, as does a knock-out competition, the Scottish Cup. The governing body, the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU), is one of the ten first-tier member nations of World Rugby.

The Scottish National League Division One is the second tier of the Scottish League Championship for amateur rugby union clubs in Scotland.

The Scottish Premiership is an amateur league competition for Scottish rugby union clubs. First held in 1973, it is the top division of the Scottish League Championship. The most recent (2019) champions are Ayr, while the most successful club is Hawick, who have won the competition twelve times.

Peter Horne is a rugby union coach. He is currently a Skills Coach for Glasgow Warriors. He previously was Head Coach of the Ayrshire Bulls. As a player he was a Scotland international rugby union player; and at club level he previously played for Glasgow Warriors for over a decade. At the time of his retirement he was the club's most capped back.

Callum Gibbins is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Old Glory DC of Major League Rugby (MLR) in the United States.

The Scottish Rugby Academy, for sponsorship reasons the Fosroc Scottish Rugby Academy, is a national academy structure designed to give Scotland's young rugby stars a pathway into the professional game.

Jason Hill is an English born Scottish Club XV international rugby union player who plays for Heriot's Rugby at the Flanker or Number Eight positions. He previously played for Glasgow Warriors, Stirling County, Heriots and Bedford Blues.

James Malcolm is a Scottish rugby union player who plays for the Seattle Seawolves of Major League Rugby (MLR).

Peter McCallum is a Scottish rugby union player who plays for Ayrshire Bulls as a Number Eight.

Kaleem Barreto is a Scotland 7s professional international rugby union player. He was previously a Stage 3 Scottish Rugby Academy player assigned to Glasgow Warriors; and has also played for Stade Niçois. His usual position is at the Scrum-half position, though he can also play on the Wing.

Ben Blain is a professional rugby union referee who represents the Scottish Rugby Union.

The 2019–20 Super 6 is the inaugural season of a semi-professional rugby union competition for Scotland's club sides.

Ollie Smith is a Scotland international rugby union player for Glasgow Warriors in the United Rugby Championship. Smith's primary position is full back but can also play at centre. Ollie Smith is the great-great-great grandson of Eric Milroy's grandfather, whose the family originally Stoneykirk. Eric Milroy was an War hero of 1914-1918. Smith's link to scottish rugby war hero. The name of Eric Milroy and Marcel Burgun are inscribed on the Auld Alliance Trophy contested by France and Scotland since 2018 in the 6 nations tournament.

The Scottish Rugby Academy provides Scotland's up and coming rugby stars a dedicated focused routeway for development into the professional game. Entry is restricted to Scottish qualified students and both male and female entrants are accepted into 4 regional academies. The 2020–21 season sees the sixth year of the academy, now sponsored by Fosroc.

References

  1. ↑ Super6 set for new season
  2. ↑ "Tennent's Premiership pro player draft for 2018-19 season unveiled". 22 August 2018.
  3. ↑ "Super6". Scottish Rugby Union.
  4. 1 2 "SRU issue Super 6 update to member clubs". 14 February 2019.
  5. ↑ "Super 6 opening season to start after Rugby World Cup 2019".
  6. ↑ "Super6 to relaunch on 30th July after 15 month hiatus". 16 June 2021.
  7. ↑ "London Scottish hope to be part of 'Super8' for 2022-23 season". 5 November 2021.
  8. ↑ "Hawks 37 Toulouse 15 --Mike Blackie recalls a famous win". old.glasgowhawks.com.
  9. 1 2 Black, Cammy (May 1, 2018). "The Super Six Pack". Scottish Rugby Blog.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.