2022–23 RFU Championship Cup


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The 2022–23 RFU Championship Cup was the fourth and final season of the annual rugby union Championship Cup competition for second tier, professional English clubs playing in the RFU Championship. The competition was won by Ealing Trailfinders who defeated Jersey Reds 35 - 31 in the final.[1] It would be the third Championship Cup title for the London club. The competition would merge with the Premiership Rugby Cup for the following season.

2022–23 RFU Championship Cup
Tournament details
Countries England Jersey Jersey
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and knockout
Date4 November 2022 — 13 May 2023
Tournament statistics
Teams12
Matches played39
Attendance41,442 (1,063 per match)
Highest attendance3,045 – Bedford v Coventry, 11 November 2022
Lowest attendance483 – Ampthill v Caldy, 4 February 2023
Tries scored306 (7.85 per match)
Top point scorer(s)44 – Russell Bennett (Jersey)
Top try scorer(s)6 – Arthur Relton (Pirates)
Peter Roberts (Doncaster)
Simon Uzokwe (Ealing)
David Williams (Nottingham)
Final
ChampionsEaling Trailfinders (3rd title)
Runners-upJersey Reds

← 2021–22 (Previous)

(Next) 2023–24 →

The competition format is a pool stage followed by a knockout stage. The pool stage consists of three pools of four teams each playing home and away matches. Pool matches ran from September through to February, on weekends when there is no RFU Championship league fixtures.[2] The three group winners, along with the best group runner up, qualify for the semi-finals to be held in May.

Participating teams and locations

edit

Team Ground Capacity City/Area
Ampthill Dillingham Park 3,000 Ampthill, Bedfordshire
Bedford Blues Goldington Road 5,000 (1,700 seats) Bedford, Bedfordshire
Caldy Paton Field 4,000 Thurstaston, Wirral, Merseyside
Cornish Pirates Mennaye Field 4,000 (2,200 seats) Penzance, Cornwall
Coventry Butts Park Arena 4,000 (3,000 seats) Coventry, West Midlands
Doncaster Knights Castle Park 5,000 (1,650 seats) Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Ealing Trailfinders Trailfinders Sports Ground 4,000 (2,200 seats) West Ealing, London
Hartpury Gillman's Ground 2,000 Hartpury, Gloucestershire
Jersey Reds Stade Santander International 4,000 Saint Peter, Jersey
London Scottish Athletic Ground 4,500 (1,000 seats) Richmond, London, London
Nottingham Lady Bay Sports Ground 3,500 Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
Richmond Athletic Ground 4,500 (1,000 seats) Richmond, London, London

Locations of the 2022–23 RFU Championship Cup teams

Pool A
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Ealing Trailfinders (Q) 6 5 0 1 248 112 136 5 1 26
2 Jersey Reds (Q) 6 5 0 1 212 102 110 5 0 25
3 Hartpury 6 1 0 5 114 247 -133 3 0 7
4 Nottingham 6 1 0 5 98 211 -113 1 1 6
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Total number of tries scored
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Difference between points for and against
  5. Fewest red cards
  6. Coin toss

[3]

Green background means the club qualified for the semi-finals as group winner.
Blue background means the club qualified for the semi-finals as the best runner up.
Updated: 19 February 2023
Source: "Championship Cup 2022-23". englandrugby.com.

Lady Bay Sports Ground
Attendance: 601
Referee: Hamish Grant

(1 BP) Ealing Trailfinders64 – 10Hartpury
Try: Metcalf (2) 12' c, 57' m
Grant (2) 14' c, 40' m
Digby 25' m
Uzokwe (3) 47' c, 53' c, 80' m
Burns 70' c
Kelleher 77' c
Con: Lancaster (5) 13', 48', 54', 71', 78'		Try: Denty 61' m
Tanner 67' m

[4][5]

Lady Bay Sports Ground
Attendance: 515
Referee: Neil Chivers

[4][6]

Gillman's Ground
Attendance: 625
Referee: Alex Thomas

[4][7]

Lady Bay Sports Ground
Attendance: 908
Referee: Nicholas Wood

[4][8]

Hartpury7 – 47Jersey Reds (1 BP)
Try: Lennon 55' c
Con: Lennon 56'		Try: Dun 6' c
Cook 12' c
Owen 21' m
Hutler 40' c
Penalty try 51'
Lewis 57' c
Everard 80' c
Con: Pitmann (4) 7', 14', 40'+1, 58'
Bennett 80'+1

Gillman's Ground
Attendance: 700
Referee: Christophe Ridley

[4][9]

Gillman's Ground
Attendance: 721
Referee: Mike Hudson

[4][10]

Pool B
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Doncaster Knights (Q) 6 4 1 1 195 135 60 5 0 23
2 Coventry 6 4 0 2 202 131 71 4 1 21
3 Bedford Blues 6 2 1 3 168 168 0 3 0 13
4 London Scottish 6 1 0 5 113 244 -131 2 0 6
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Total number of tries scored
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Difference between points for and against
  5. Fewest red cards
  6. Coin toss

[3]

Green background means the club qualified for the semi-finals as group winner.
Blue background means the club qualified for the semi-finals as the best runner up.
Updated: 19 February 2023
Source: "Championship Cup 2022-23". englandrugby.com.
(1 BP) London Scottish26 – 17Bedford Blues
Try: Trendholm 20' c
Ferdinand 27' c
Nutton' 39' c
Riley 71' m
Con: Sheppard (3) 20', 28', 40'		Try: Garside 59' c
Tapley 79' c
Con: French (2) 60', 80'

[4][5]

[4][6]

[4][7]

(1 BP) Bedford Blues38 – 17London Scottish
Try: French (2) 16' c, 65' c
Rylands 39' m
Garside 42' c
Hughes 54' c
Matavesi 73' m
Con: Grimboldy (4) 17', 43', 55', 66'		Try: Pandy 12' m
McCallum 35' c
Mehson 50' m
Con: Chamberlain 36'

[4][8]

(BP) Doncaster Knights66 – 12London Scottish
Try: Ehizode 2' c
Dolly 5' c
Spittle (2) 15' c, 23' m
Edgson (2) 49' c, 57' m
Holden (2) 51' c, 63' c
Edwards 71' c
Yarnell 75' c
Con: Dolly (5) 2', 5', 15', 49', 51'
McBryde (3) 63', 71', 75'		Try: Tuilagi 13' c
King 54' m
Con: Scott 13'

[4][9]

(1 BP) London Scottish31 – 47Coventry (1 BP)
Try: Els 19' c
Mehson (2) 36' c, 50' c
Taulani 47' c
Con: Chamberlain (4) 20', 37', 48', 51'
Pen: Chamberlain 3'		Try: Martin (2) 7' m, 32' c
Nayalo 12' c
Titherington (2) 15' c, 79' c
James 39' c
Wand 42' c
Con: Mitchell (6) 13', 16', 33', 40', 43', 79'
(1 BP) Bedford Blues42 – 42Doncaster Knights (1 BP)
Try: Uru (2) 8' c, 20' c
Conway 12' c
Arthur 32' c
Worley 67' c
Frost 74' c
Con: Maisey (4) 10', 14', 21', 33'
Grimoldy (2) 68', 75'		Try: Kelly 15' c
Olver (2) 40' c, 48' c
Tait (2) 58' c, 80' c
Penalty try 78'
Con: Dolly (5) 16', 40'+1, 49', 59', 80'+1

[4][10]

Pool C
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Cornish Pirates (Q) 6 6 0 0 215 63 152 5 0 29
2 Ampthill 6 3 0 3 131 117 14 3 1 16
3 Caldy 6 2 0 4 94 181 -87 2 1 11
4 Richmond 6 1 0 5 102 181 -79 1 2 7
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Total number of tries scored
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Difference between points for and against
  5. Fewest red cards
  6. Coin toss

[3]

Green background means the club qualified for the semi-finals as group winner.
Blue background means the club qualified for the semi-finals as the best runner up.
Updated: 19 February 2023
Source: "Championship Cup 2022-23". englandrugby.com.
Caldy17 – 13Ampthill (1 BP)
Try: Higginson 20' m
Ridgeway 50' m
Birch 54' c
Con: Jones 55'		Try: Jackson-Richards 6' c
Con: Rankin 7'
Pen: Rankin (2) 32', 43'
Richmond7 – 62Cornish Pirates (1 BP)
Try: Massey 43' c
Con: Duncan 44'		Try: Sirker (4) 2' m, 29' c, 36' c, 76' m
Nagle-Taylor 7' c
Norey (2) 18' c, 57' m
Nelson (2) 64' c, 79' c
Relton 70' m
Con: Bazalgette (6) 7', 19', 30', 37', 65', 80'

[4]

Dillingham Park
Attendance: 526
Referee: Adam Wookey

[4][6]

(1 BP) Richmond40 – 15Caldy
Try: Torpey (2) 7' c, 21' c
O'Meara 29' c
Saysell (3) 32' c, 40' m, 49' c
Con: Johnston (5) 7', 21', 29', 33', 49'		Try: Royle (3) 37', 66', 78'

[4][7][12]

(1 BP) Ampthill31 – 26Caldy (2 BP)
Try: Blackmore (2) 2' m, 12' m
Harmes 6' c
Finlay 14' c
Hallett 19' c
Con: Hadwick (3) 7', 14', 20'		Try: Barker 17' c
Cartmill (2) 29' m, 80' c
Penalty try 59'
Con: Jones (2) 18', 80'

Dillingham Park
Attendance: 483
Referee: Nicolas Wood

[4][8]

(1 BP) Richmond19 – 26Ampthill (1 BP)
Try: Spring 19' c
Monson 55' m
Caddy 67' c
Con: Johnston (2) 20', 68'		Try: Blackmore 21' c
Rankin 25' m
Skelcey 42' c
Green 64' c
Con: Hardwick (3) 22', 43', 65'
(1 BP) Cornish Pirates52 – 5Caldy
Try: Williams 10' c
King 19' c
Elderkin 38' m
Nelson 42' c
Haylor 61' c
Crane 67' m
Cant 71' c
Stacey 76' c
Con: Bazalgette (3) 10', 19', 42'
Penny (3) 62', 71', 76'		Try: Stagg 30' m

[4][9]

Ampthill14 – 23Cornish Pirates
Try: Ryan 26' c
Blackmore 51' c
Con: Hardwick (2) 27', 52'		Try: Stevens 20' c
Cant 39' m
Andrew 66' m
Con: Robson 21'
Pen: Robson (2) 8', 55'

Dillingham Park
Attendance: 537
Referee: Jonathan Cook

(1 BP) Caldy24 – 19Richmond (1 BP)
Try: Aigbokhae 26' m
(2) Hayes 34' c, 40' m
Royle 63' c
Con: Gourlay (2) 35', 64'		Try: Wakeling 4' m
Scott 30' c
Makele 38' c
Con: Johnston (2) 31', 39'

[4][10]

The four qualifiers were seeded according to performance in the pool stage - with the two best performing pool winners being ranked as seeds 1 and 2, while the third group winner and best group runner up were ranked as seeds 3 and 4. The top four seeds hosted the quarter-finals against the lower seeds, in a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 format. However, if two teams qualified from the same pool they could not be drawn together. For the final the highest ranked seed would have home advantage.

Teams were ranked by:

1 – competition points (4 for a win, 2 for a draw)
2 – where competition points are equal, greatest number of wins
3 – where the number of wins are equal, greatest number of tries scored
4 – where the number of tries are equal, aggregate points difference
5 – where the aggregate points difference are equal, greatest number of points scored
6 – where the greatest number of points are equal, least red cards
7 – if red cards are equal, then ranking will be decided by the toss of a coin

[3]

Rank Pool Pool leaders/best runner-up Pts Wins TF Diff PF
1 C Cornish Pirates 29 6 33 152 215
2 A Ealing Trailfinders 26 5 38 136 248
3 A Jersey Reds 25 5 32 110 212
4 B Doncaster Knights 23 4 30 60 195
5 B Coventry 21 4 30 71 202
6 C Ampthill 16 3 19 14 131
Semi-finalsFinal
      
6 May 2023
Ealing Trailfinders32
13 May 2023
Doncaster Knights0
Ealing Trailfinders35
5 May 2023
Jersey Reds31
Cornish Pirates24
Jersey Reds35

[13]

[1]

Club Home
Games 		Total Average Highest Lowest % Capacity
Ampthill 3 1,546 515 537 483 17%
Bedford Blues 3 8,041 2,680 3,045 2,459 54%
Caldy 3 2,836 945 1,067 871 24%
Cornish Pirates 4 5,531 1,383 1,642 1,252 35%
Coventry 3 5,521 1,840 2,102 1,621 46%
Doncaster Knights 3 2,641 880 1,026 726 17%
Ealing Trailfinders 5 4,368 874 1,225 672 17%
Hartpury 3 2,046 682 721 625 34%
Jersey Reds 3 3,278 1,093 1,204 908 27%
London Scottish 3 1,667 556 617 500 12%
Nottingham 3 2,024 675 908 515 19%
Richmond 3 1,943 648 700 619 14%

[5][6][7][8][9][10][13][1]

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

  1. ^ a b c d e "Championship Cup semi-finals". The RUGBYPaper. No. 765. Rugby Paper Ltd. 14 May 2023. p. 16.
  2. ^ "2022/23 Fixtures Announced". RFU. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Championship Cup Regulations 2018-19" (PDF). England Rugby. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "The Championship Cup Results 2022–23". RFU. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Results". The RugbyPaper. No. 738. 6 September 2022. p. 38.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Results". The RugbyPaper. No. 739. 13 September 2022. p. 38.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Results". The RugbyPaper. No. 740. 20 September 2022. p. 37.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Results". The RugbyPaper. No. 751. 5 February 2023. p. 38.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Results". The RugbyPaper. No. 752. 12 February 2023. p. 34.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "Results". The RugbyPaper. No. 753. 19 February 2023. p. 38.
  11. ^ "Match Report: Cornish Pirates 27 Ampthill 1". Cornish Pirates. 20 November 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  12. ^ "Results". The RugbyPaper. No. 741. 27 September 2022. p. 37.
  13. ^ a b c d "Championship Cup semi-finals". The RUGBYPaper. No. 764. Rugby Paper Ltd. 7 May 2023. p. 32.