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The Premiership Rugby Cup is an English rugby union knockout cup competition for teams in Premiership Rugby and from the 2023–24 season the RFU Championship. It was created in 2018 to replace the Anglo-Welsh Cup after the withdrawal of the Welsh regions.[1]
Current season, competition or edition: 2024–25 Premiership Rugby Cup | |
 | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2018 |
| First season | 2018–19 |
| No. of teams | 12 (2018–2023) 22 (2023–2024) 20 (2024–) |
| Country | England |
| Most recent champion(s) | Gloucester Rugby (1st title) (2023–24) |
| TV partner(s) | TNT Sports |
| Related competitions | Premiership Rugby RFU Championship |
| Official website | www |
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 new Premiership Cup was created to re-establish the significance of the domestic cup competition and support development of younger English Premiership players by providing a platform to compete in more matches at Premiership stadia.[6]
The 2020–21 tournament was cancelled due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]
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The format for the competition until 2019–20 consisted 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 were typically held over either the Autumn International or Rugby World Cup and Six Nations Championship weekends.[2] The three pool winners and the best runner-up entered 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 received £500,000.[8]
After a year's hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition returned for 2021–22 season. The thirteen premiership rugby teams were split into one pool of five teams and two pools of four teams. Each team played the other teams in their pool and also played an additional inter pool match if required.
For 2023–24 the twelve teams from the RFU Championship joined the ten teams from the Premiership. The first stage of the competition took place over five consecutive weekends during the Rugby World Cup.[9]
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| Ed. | Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Venue | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2018–19 | Northampton Saints | 23–9 | Saracens | Franklin's Gardens | 15,250 | |
2 | 2019–20 | Sale Sharks | 27–19 | Harlequins | AJ Bell Stadium | 0[a] | |
– | 2020–21 | (No competition held due to COVID-19 pandemic) | |||||
3 | 2021–22 | Worcester Warriors[b] | 25–25 (a.e.t.) | London Irish | Brentford Community Stadium | 9,531 | |
4 | 2022–23 | Exeter Chiefs | 24–20 (a.e.t.) | London Irish | Brentford Community Stadium | 9,003 | |
5 | 2023–24 | Gloucester Rugby | 23–13 | Leicester Tigers | Kingsholm Stadium | 14,460 | |
6 | 2024–25 | ||||||
List of champions
| # | Team | Wins | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northampton Saints | 1 | 2019 |
| Sale Sharks | 2020 | ||
| Worcester Warriors | 2022 | ||
| Exeter Chiefs | 2023 | ||
| Gloucester Rugby | 2024 | ||
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