Current season or competition: 2019–20 Celtic Cup | |
 | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 2018 |
| Inaugural season | 2018 |
| Ceased | 2020 |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Nations |  Ireland  Wales |
| Holders | Leinster A (2019-20) |
| Most titles | Leinster A (2 titles) |
| Related competition | Pro14 |
The Celtic Cup is a rugby union cup competition featuring development regional and provincial teams from Ireland and Wales that began in 2018. [1]
Following the withdrawal of English clubs from, and the subsequent demise of, the British and Irish Cup in 2018, the Irish Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union agreed to create a new development competition, the Celtic Cup, for the emerging professional players from the four Irish provinces and four Welsh regions in 2018. The name had been used previously between 2003 and 2005 for a short lived single elimination knockout competition between teams in the then Celtic League.
The new tournament, which features development squads from Pro14 teams Connacht, Leinster, Munster, Ulster, Cardiff Blues, the Dragons, the Ospreys and the Scarlets, aims to provide a learning environment for players, coaches and referees by recreating the week-to-week challenges presented by senior professional rugby. [2]
| Edition | Year | Final | Teams | Matches | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | Venue | ||||
| I | 2018 | Leinster A | 15–8 | Scarlets A | Parc y Scarlets | 8 | 25 |
| II | 2019 | Leinster A | 31–10 | Ulster A | Energia Park | 8 | 29 |
The first season of the Celtic Cup ran over seven consecutive weeks in 2018. The eight teams were divided into two conferences of four Welsh regions and four Irish provinces. Each Irish province played each of the Welsh regions and against two Irish provinces. Similarly, the Welsh regions played each of the Irish provinces and two of their Welsh counterparts. The top-ranked province from the Irish conference played the top-ranked region from the Welsh conference in the final . [3]
Leinster A won the first edition of the new competition, beating Scarlets A 15–8 in the final at Parc y Scarlets.
The second season saw an immediate format change, with the competition defaulting to a single table, and a single round-robin format, each team playing all other teams once. Once more, the competition was run over eight consecutive weeks in 2019. The two highest ranked teams, regardless of nation, proceeded to a final, hosted by the team that finished first in the table.
Leinster A retained their title, defeating fellow Irish province Ulster A 31–10 in the final at Energia Park.
|
|
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in South Africa, and the BKT United Rugby Championship in the competition's other territories, the split branding mirroring the format previously adopted in Super Rugby. The Championship represents the highest level of domestic club or franchise rugby in each of its constituent countries.
Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won once. Ulster were the first Irish team and the first team outside England and France to win the European Cup in 1999.
Leinster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial club rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup.
Rugby union is a popular team sport on the island of Ireland, organised on an all-Ireland basis, including players and teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its governing body, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), was founded in 1879, making it the third oldest rugby union in the world after the RFU (England) and the SRU (Scotland).
The 2006–07 Celtic League was the sixth Celtic League season and the first with Magners as title sponsor. The season commenced on 1 September and was completed on 12 May.
The 2008–09 Celtic League was the eighth Celtic League season and the third with Magners as title sponsor. The season began in September 2008 and ended in May 2009. Ten teams played each other on a home-and-away basis, with teams earning four points for a win, and a bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match. Losing teams also earned a bonus point if they lost by seven points or less.
The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009–10 season, and ran for 9 seasons.
The 2011–12 Pro12 League was the 11th season of the rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the second with its current 12-team format, and also the first with RaboDirect as title sponsor.
The 2013–14 British and Irish Cup was the fifth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. Leinster A were the defending champions having won the 2012–13 Final with a 78th minute penalty by Noel Reid to beat Newcastle Falcons 18–17 at their home ground Kingston Park. There has been four different winners and four different losing finalists of the competition in the first four seasons of its existence.
The European Rugby Champions Cup is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a predominantly European league. Clubs qualify for the Champions Cup via their final positions in their respective national/regional leagues or via winning the second-tier Challenge Cup; those that do not qualify are instead eligible to compete in the second-tier Challenge Cup.
The Celtic Cup was a rugby union cup competition featuring regional and provincial teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales that ran for two seasons between 2003 and 2005. The first edition of the competition was won by Ulster and the second by Munster, both from Ireland. After the Welsh teams agreed to join the English Premiership clubs to form the Anglo-Welsh Cup for the 2005–06 season, the Celtic Cup was discontinued. A separate competition under the same name was inaugurated in 2018 for Welsh and Irish development sides.
The 2014–15 British and Irish Cup is the sixth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. Leinster A are the defending champions having won the 2013–14 final against Yorkshire Carnegie 44–17 at Donnybrook on 23 May 2014. There has been four different winners and five different losing finalists of the competition in the five seasons of its existence.
The 2017–18 PRO14 was the seventeenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It is the first season to be referred to as the Guinness PRO14 Championship, with the addition of two South African teams.
The 2018–19 Pro14 is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the Pro14.
The 2018 Celtic Cup is the inaugural edition of the Celtic Cup rugby union competition, which features development regional and provincial teams from Ireland and Wales. It ran for six weeks from September 2018 until October 2018. Leinster A won the inaugural edition, beating Scarlets A in the final.
The 2019–20 PRO14 was the nineteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the third season to be referred to as the PRO14.
The 2019–20 Celtic Cup was the second edition of the Celtic Cup rugby union competition, which features development regional and provincial teams from Ireland and Wales. It ran from August 2019 until October 2019, with a change to a single table format from the original conference system.
The 2020–21 PRO14 was the twentieth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the fourth season to be referred to as the PRO14.
The 2021–22 United Rugby Championship was the twenty-first season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the first season that the competition is referred to as the United Rugby Championship, having previously been known as the Pro14.
The 2022–23 United Rugby Championship was the 22nd season of the professional rugby union competition United Rugby Championship. It began on 16 September 2022 and ended on 27 May 2023. For sponsorship reasons it was known in South Africa as Vodacom United Rugby Championship or Vodacom URC, while in the Northern Hemisphere it was known as the BKT United Rugby Championship or BKT URC.
| Governing body |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National teams |
| ||||
| Regional teams | |||||
| Regional and club competitions | |||||
| Previous competitions | |||||
| Related articles | |||||
