Premiership Rugby Cup

The Premiership Rugby Cup is an English rugby union knockout cup competition for teams in Premiership Rugby. It was created in 2018 to replace the Anglo-Welsh Cup after the withdrawal of the Welsh regions.[1]

Premiership Rugby Cup
Current season or competition:
2020–21 Premiership Rugby Cup
SportRugby union
Formerly known asAnglo-Welsh Cup
Instituted2018 (2018)
Inaugural season2018–19
Number of teams12
Nations England
HoldersSale Sharks (2019–20)
Most titlesNorthampton Saints
Sale Sharks (1 title)
WebsitePremiership Rugby Cup
Broadcast partnerBT Sport
Related competitionPremiership

History

The Premiership Rugby Cup was created to replace the Anglo-Welsh Cup which had been running since 2005 when the Welsh regions joined the then English-only Powergen Cup.[2] In the 2017–18 Anglo-Welsh Cup, all four of the Welsh regions finished bottom of their pools.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] The Cup was created to continue to allow younger English Premiership players to compete in more matches at Premiership stadia.[6]

Format

The format for the competition consists of the twelve Premiership teams grouped into three pools of four with at least one club having one local derby match in their groups. The matches are typically held over either the end-of-year rugby union internationals or Rugby World Cup and Six Nations Championship weekends.[2] 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.[5] The winning club will receive £500,000.[7]

Finals
Year Winner Score Runner-up Venue Attendance
2018–19 Northampton Saints 23 – 9 Saracens Franklin's Gardens 15,250
2019–20 Sale Sharks 27 – 19 Harlequins AJ Bell Stadium 0[lower-alpha 1]
2020–21

See also

References
  1. "Premiership Rugby Cup to replace Anglo-Welsh Cup from next season". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  2. Morgan, Charlie (2018-05-06). "Exclusive: Anglo-Welsh Cup replaced by all-English competition". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  3. "Anglo-Welsh Cup: Beaten Welsh regions to make exit". BBC Sport. 2018-01-27. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  4. "End of Anglo-Welsh Cup confirmed". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  5. "Everything we know so far about the new Premiership Rugby Cup Bath Rugby will play in next season". Somerset Live. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  6. "Anglo-Welsh Cup to be replaced by the Premiership Rugby Cup". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  7. "Leicester Tigers are ready to take their place in new Cup competition next season". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 2018-05-12.

Notes
  1. Match was played behind closed doors due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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