Anglo-Welsh Cup

The Anglo-Welsh Cup (Welsh: Cwpan Eingl-Gymreig), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. The competition was seen by most clubs as a tournament to experiment with younger and upcoming players, with many regular team starters rested from the match day squad. Prior to 2005 the cup was an all-English competition, and before the establishment of the English league structure in 1987 represented the premier competition in English club rugby.[1]

Anglo-Welsh Cup
SportRugby union
Founded1971
Ceased2018
Replaced byPremiership Rugby Cup
No. of teams16
Countries England
Wales
Last
champion(s)		Exeter (2nd title)
Most titlesBath (10 titles)
TV partner(s)BT Sport (live)
Channel 5 (highlights)
Official websiteAnglo-Welsh Cup

The competition was replaced by the Premiership Rugby Cup, involving only the 12 English Premiership clubs, beginning with the 2018–19 season.[2]

History

1971–2005

Originally known as the RFU Club Competition, for which no cup was awarded nor sponsorship sought, it was renamed the John Player Cup in 1976. The first competition took place in 1972, and Gloucester were crowned inaugural champions, defeating Moseley in the final, 17–6. Coventry won two titles in succession in 1973 and 1974, and after Bedford's championship win in 1975, Gosforth also won two in succession, in 1976 and 1977. Gloucester won their second title in 1978. The competition was then dominated by Leicester, who won three championships in a row, until Gloucester won their third title in 1982. This was shared with Moseley after a 12–12 draw in extra time, and was the only time the cup was shared between two teams. Leicester were again in the final in 1983, but lost to Bristol. Leicester's record run was then broken by Bath from 1984 to 1987, who won the cup four times in a row, until Harlequins won their first in 1988.

The name of the cup was changed to the Pilkington Cup for the 1989 tournament. Bath picked up from where they left off in the late 1980s, going onto win another six times from 1989 to 1996. Harlequins won their second title in 1991, and Leicester added to their three championships in 1993 and again in 1997. The cup changed its name again after Leicesters' 1997 victory, becoming the Tetley's Bitter Cup for the 1998 season. Saracens won their first title, defeating Wasps in 1998. Wasps were again in the final in 1999, and defeated Newcastle to claim their first championship. Wasps also won the 2000 competition.

In 2001, the name of the tournament was changed to the Powergen Cup. Newcastle won the first Powergen Cup, defeating the Harlequins 30–27. London Irish won it for their first time the following season, and Gloucester won it for the first time since 1982 in 2003. Newcastle won in 2004, and in 2005, Leeds Tykes defeated Bath to win it for the first time.

2005–2018: Anglo-Welsh Cup

Starting in 2005–06, the cup featured a new format including only the twelve teams from the Guinness Premiership and the four regional Welsh clubs. Teams from the Championship (formerly National Division One) and below played in the then Powergen National Trophy, which from 2009–10 season became the British and Irish Cup and features championship teams.

In place of the knock-out format, the 16 clubs are placed in four pools with three English clubs and one Welsh club. The pool stages of the Anglo-Welsh Cup tournament feature one game against each team. The winners of each of the four groups progress to the semi-finals. The pools will stay as they are for the following season as well, with home and away fixtures reversed and the club relegated from the Premiership's place taken by the club promoted from the Championship.

In addition to increased TV revenue (the revised Powergen Cup had a new broadcasting agreement with BBC Sport) and a possible boost to matchday income, the Powergen Cup also offered its winner, if they were a Premiership club, qualification to the even more lucrative Heineken Cup competition. As base compensation, all 16 Powergen clubs are guaranteed £250,000 each, with a prize fund of up to £200,000 available to the semi-finalists.[3]

The Welsh clubs' inclusion initially caused them to be expelled from the Celtic League. Scottish and Irish officials were angered that the Welsh clubs had apparently consented to Powergen Cup fixtures on the same weekend as Celtic League matches. The political fallout resulted in the purported expulsion of the Welsh clubs from the league. Eventually, a compromise was reached, and the Welsh clubs were readmitted.

The Scarlets playing Bath at the Millennium Stadium

Interest in the Powergen Cup was high during the first two rounds. Over 100,000 spectators attend matches, while the television audience peaked at 1.2 million on BBC2 for the match between the Newcastle Falcons and the Llanelli Scarlets.[4] Overall, the 2005–06 cup drew a 12% attendance boost in the group stages over the previous year's competition.[5]

However, Powergen decided to withdraw all of its rugby sponsorship after the conclusion of the 2005–06 cup competitions.[6] The next sponsor of the Anglo-Welsh Cup was EDF Energy,[7] in a deal that ran until 2009. The latest deal with LV ran through the 2014–15 competition.[8]

There was no Anglo-Welsh Cup competition in the 2015–16 season due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup being played in England which resulted in the late start to the 2015–16 English Premiership season.[9] The competition returns in the 2016-17 season with BT Sport taking over the live TV rights from Sky Sports and will show 2 matches per round including 2 semi-finals and will also show the final. Highlights are shown on Channel 5.

2018–present: Premiership Rugby Cup

In the 2017–18 Anglo-Welsh Cup, all four of the Welsh regions finished bottom of their pools.[10] In May 2018, the Welsh Rugby Union announced that they were going to be setting up a Welsh under-23s competition for their regions and would thus be unable to commit to Anglo-Welsh Cup games.[11] On 10 May, Premiership Rugby Limited, which organises the English top flight, then announced that the Anglo-Welsh Cup would be replaced by the Premiership Rugby Cup, which would be solely for the English Premiership clubs.[12] The Cup was created to continue to allow younger English Premiership players to compete in more matches at Premiership stadiums.[13]

The format for the competition will be the 12 teams from the Premiership grouped into three pools of four with at least one club having one local derby match in their groups.[12] The draw will be made at the BT Tower in London on 6 July 2018.[14] The matches will be held over the end-of-year rugby union internationals and Six Nations Championship weekends.[15] The three pool winners and the best runner-up will enter the semi-finals with home advantage given to the team with the better record in the pool stage and the final would be held at the home of the highest ranked club.[12] The winning club will receive £500,000.[14]

Sponsorship

The latest sponsorship deal was with British insurance company LV, which ran for six seasons, was announced on 29 October 2009, just before the start of the 2009–10 competition and ended in 2015.[8] Between 2006 and 2009, the competition was sponsored by EDF's UK subsidiary and referred to as the EDF Energy Cup.

List of winners
The Powergen Cup (centre) seen in the London Irish clubhouse at Sunbury in 2002
Key to list of winners
Match went to extra time
Cup shared

RFU Club Competition (1971–2005)

All teams are English.

RFU Club Competition
Season Winners Score Runners-up Venue Attendance Ref
1971–72 Gloucester 17–6 Moseley Twickenham 10,500
1972–73 Coventry 27–15 Bristol Twickenham 11,500 [16]
1973–74 Coventry 26–6 London Scottish Twickenham
1974–75 Bedford 28–12 Rosslyn Park Twickenham 18,000 [17]
John Player Cup
1975–76 Gosforth 23–14 Rosslyn Park Twickenham 7,500 [18]
1976–77 Gosforth 27–11 Waterloo Twickenham 10,000 [19]
1977–78 Gloucester 6–3 Leicester Twickenham 24,000 [20]
1978–79 Leicester 15–12 Moseley Twickenham 18,000 [21]
1979–80 Leicester 21–9 London Irish Twickenham 27,000 [22]
1980–81 Leicester 22–15 Gosforth Twickenham 24,000 [23]
1981–82 Gloucester 12–12 Moseley Twickenham 20,000 [24]
1982–83 Bristol 28–22 Leicester Twickenham 34,000
1983–84 Bath 10–9 Bristol Twickenham 25,000 [25]
1984–85 Bath 24–15 London Welsh Twickenham 32,000
1985–86 Bath 25–17 Wasps Twickenham 23,000 [26]
1986–87 Bath 19–12 Wasps Twickenham 35,500
1987–88 Harlequins 28–22 Bristol Twickenham 37,000 [27]
Pilkington Cup
1988–89 Bath 10–6 Leicester Twickenham 59,300
1989–90 Bath 48–6 Gloucester Twickenham 52,000 [28]
1990–91 Harlequins 25–13 Northampton Twickenham 53,000 [29]
1991–92 Bath 15–12 Harlequins Twickenham 62,000
1992–93 Leicester 23–16 Harlequins Twickenham 54,000 [30]
1993–94 Bath 21–9 Leicester Twickenham 68,000 [31]
1994–95 Bath 36–16 Wasps Twickenham [32]
1995–96 Bath 16–15 Leicester Twickenham 75,000 [33]
1996–97 Leicester 9–3 Sale Twickenham 75,000 [34]
Tetley's Bitter Cup
1997–98 Saracens 48–18 Wasps Twickenham 65,000 [35]
1998–99 London Wasps 29–19 Newcastle Twickenham 50,000 [36]
1999–00 London Wasps 31–23 Northampton Twickenham 48,000 [37]
2000–01 Newcastle 30–27 Harlequins Twickenham 71,000 [38]
Powergen Cup
2001–02 London Irish 38–7 Northampton Twickenham 75,000 [39]
2002–03 Gloucester 40–22 Northampton Twickenham 75,000 [40]
2003–04 Newcastle 37–33 Sale Twickenham 48,519 [41]
2004–05 Leeds Tykes 20–12 Bath Twickenham 60,300

Anglo-Welsh Cup (2005–2018)

All teams are English except where indicated by (Welsh).

Anglo-Welsh Cup
Season Winners Score Runners-up Venue Attendance Ref
2005–06 London Wasps 26–10 Llanelli Scarlets Twickenham 57,212
2006–07 Leicester Tigers 41–35 Ospreys Twickenham 43,312 [42]
2007–08 Ospreys 23–6 Leicester Tigers Twickenham 65,756
2008–09 Cardiff Blues 50–12 Gloucester Twickenham 54,899
2009–10 Northampton Saints 30–24 Gloucester Sixways Stadium, Worcester 12,024 [43]
2010–11 Gloucester 34–7 Newcastle Falcons Franklin's Gardens, Northampton 6,848 [44]
2011–12 Leicester Tigers 26–14 Northampton Saints Sixways Stadium, Worcester 11,895 [45]
2012–13 Harlequins 32–14 Sale Sharks Sixways Stadium, Worcester 8,100 [46]
2013–14 Exeter Chiefs 15–8 Northampton Saints Sandy Park, Exeter 10,744 [47]
2014–15 Saracens 23–20 Exeter Chiefs Franklin's Gardens, Northampton 8,865 [48]
2015–16 No competition due to Rugby World Cup
2016–17 Leicester Tigers 16–12 Exeter Chiefs Twickenham Stoop, London 6,834 [49]
2017–18 Exeter Chiefs 28–11 Bath Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester 8,074

List of champions
# Team Wins Years
1 Bath 10 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996
2 Leicester 8 1979, 1980, 1981, 1993, 1997, 2007, 2012, 2017
3 Gloucester 5 1972, 1978, 1982*, 2003, 2011
4 Newcastle 4 1976, 1977 (as Gosforth), 2001, 2004
5= Harlequins 3 1988, 1991, 2013
5= Wasps 3 1999, 2000, 2006
7= Coventry 2 1973, 1974
7= Saracens 2 1998, 2015
7= Exeter 2 2014, 2018
9= Bedford 1 1975
9= Moseley 1 1982*
9= Bristol 1 1983
9= London Irish 1 2002
9= Leeds Tykes 1 2005
9= Ospreys 1 2008
9= Cardiff 1 2009
9= Northampton 1 2010

* 1982 title shared between Gloucester and Moseley.

See also

References
  1. "Anglo-Welsh Cup: Previous winners". BBC. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  2. "Anglo-Welsh Cup to be Replaced by the Premiership Rugby Cup". Sky Sports. 10 May 2018.
  3. "Cup resurrects Anglo-Welsh contests of old days". Times Online. 27 September 2005. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2006.
  4. RFU Archived March 21, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  5. "EDF Energy to sponsor UK's premier cup competition". Rugby Football Union. Archived from the original on 8 November 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2006.
  6. "Powergen to end cup sponsorships". BBC Sport. 16 February 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2006.
  7. "Anglo-Welsh Cup gets new sponsor". BBC Sport. 1 August 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2006.
  8. "LV= sponsors rugby's Anglo-Welsh Tournament" (Press release). Rugby Football Union. 29 October 2009. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  9. "LV=Cup cancellation would hit Exeter Chiefs". BBC Sport.
  10. "Anglo-Welsh Cup: Beaten Welsh regions to make exit". BBC Sport. 2018-01-27. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  11. "End of Anglo-Welsh Cup confirmed". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  12. "Everything we know so far about the new Premiership Rugby Cup Bath Rugby will play in next season". Somerset Live. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  13. "Anglo-Welsh Cup to be replaced by the Premiership Rugby Cup". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  14. "Leicester Tigers are ready to take their place in new Cup competition next season". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  15. Morgan, Charlie (2018-05-06). "Exclusive: Anglo-Welsh Cup replaced by all-English competition". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  16. Jenkins, Vivian, ed. (1973). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1973-74. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 88–91. ISBN 0362001456.
  17. Jenkins, Vivian (1975). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook. Brickfield Publications Ltd. ISBN 0362-00221-5.
  18. Jenkins, Vivian (1976). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook. Brickfield Publications Ltd. ISBN 0362-00281-9.
  19. Jenkins, Vivian, ed. (1977). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1977–78 (6th ed.). London: Queen Anne Press Division. ISBN 0354-09020-8.
  20. Jenkins, Vivian, ed. (1978). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1978–79 (7th ed.). London: Queen Anne Press Division. ISBN 0354-09047X.
  21. Jenkins, Vivian (1979). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook. Brickfield Publications Ltd. ISBN 0354-09087-9.
  22. Jenkins, Vivian, ed. (1980). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1980–81 (9th ed.). London: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0362-02018-3.
  23. Jenkins, Vivian, ed. (1981). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1981–82 (10th ed.). Aylesbury: Rothmans Publications Limited. ISBN 0-907574-05-X.
  24. Jenkins, Vivian, ed. (1982). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1982–83 (11th ed.). Aylesbury: Rothmans Publications Ltd. ISBN 0-907574-13-0.
  25. Jones, Stephen, ed. (1984). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1984–85 (13th ed.). London: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0-356-10448-6.
  26. Jones, Stephen, ed. (1986). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1986–87 (15th ed.). London: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0-356-12361-8.
  27. Jones, Stephen, ed. (1988). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1988–89 (17th ed.). London: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0-356-15884-5.
  28. Williams, Tony; Mitchell, Bill, eds. (1990). Official Rugby Union Club Directory 1990–91 (3rd ed.). Windsor: Burlington Publishing Co Ltd. ISBN 1-873057-024.
  29. Jones, Stephen, ed. (1991). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1991–92 (20th ed.). London: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0-356-20249-6.
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  32. Cleary, Mick; Griffiths, John, eds. (1995). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1995–96 (24th ed.). London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0-7472-7816-4.
  33. Cleary, Mick; Griffiths, John, eds. (1996). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1996–97 (25th ed.). London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0-7472-7771-0.
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  40. "Gloucester lift the cup". The Scotsman.
  41. "Rugby Union". BBC Sport.
  42. "Leicester 41-35 Ospreys". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  43. "Northampton 30-24 Gloucester". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  44. "Gloucester 34-7 Newcastle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  45. "Match Centre". Premiership Rugby. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  46. "Match Centre". Premiership Rugby. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
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  48. "LV Cup final: Saracens 23-20 Exeter Chiefs". BBC Sport.
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