2019–20 Premiership Rugby Cup


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The 2019–20 Premiership Rugby Cup was the 48th season of England's national rugby union cup competition and the second under the new Premiership Rugby Cup format following the disbanding of the Anglo-Welsh Cup at the end of the 2017–18 season due to the withdrawal of the Welsh Pro14 regions.[1] Although there were no stipulations on player selection, the cup was seen by many clubs as a development competition, and games took place during the 2019 Rugby World Cup and during the Six Nations.

2019–20 Premiership Rugby Cup
Tournament details
CountriesEngland
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and knockout
Date20 September 2019 – 21 September 2020
Tournament statistics
Teams12
Matches played26
Attendance229,032 (8,809 per match)
Highest attendance16,160
Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints
12 October 2019
Lowest attendance2,558
London Irish v Sale Sharks
12 October 2019
Tries scored195 (7.5 per match)
Top point scorer(s)England Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
40 points
Top try scorer(s)England Rotimi Segun (Saracens)
5 tries
Final
VenueAJ Bell Stadium
ChampionsSale Sharks (1st title)
Runners-upHarlequins

← 2018–19 (Previous)

(Next) 2021–22 →

Northampton Saints entered the competition as reigning champions, becoming the first winners of the Premiership Cup when they defeated Saracens 23 – 9 in the final at Franklin's Gardens during the 2019–20 season.[2][3]

The competition consisted of the twelve Premiership Rugby teams arranged in three pools of four clubs each, with each team playing three games against teams in their pool, as well as a 'derby' game against a team in another pool. The top team in each pool, plus the best overall runner up, progressed to the semi-finals, with the highest ranked teams having home advantage. The winners of the semi-finals then met in the final delayed from March to September 2020, held at the home ground of the highest ranked remaining team.[4]

2019–20 Premiership Rugby Cup teams

Club Director of Rugby/Head Coach Captain Kit supplier Stadium Capacity City/Area
Bath   Stuart Hooper   Matt Garvey Canterbury The Recreation Ground 14,509 Bath
Bristol Bears   Pat Lam   Steve Luatua Bristol Sport Ashton Gate 27,000 Bristol
Exeter Chiefs   Rob Baxter   Jack Yeandle Samurai Sportswear Sandy Park 13,593[a] Exeter
Gloucester   David Humphreys   Willi Heinz Elite Pro Sports Kingsholm Stadium 16,115 Gloucester
Harlequins   Paul Gustard
  Billy Millard 		  Chris Robshaw Adidas Twickenham Stoop 14,800 Twickenham, Greater London
Leicester Tigers   Geordan Murphy   Tom Youngs Kukri Welford Road 25,849 Leicester
London Irish   Declan Kidney   Blair Cowan
  Stephen Myler
  Dave Porecki
  Franco van der Merwe 		BLK Madejski Stadium 24,162 Reading, Berkshire
Northampton Saints   Chris Boyd   Dylan Hartley
  Alex Waller 		Macron Franklin's Gardens 15,200 Northampton
Sale Sharks   Steve Diamond   Jono Ross Samurai Sportswear AJ Bell Stadium 12,000 Salford, Greater Manchester
Saracens   Mark McCall   Brad Barritt Nike Allianz Park 7,500[b] Barnet, Greater London
Wasps   Dai Young to 11 February
  Lee Blackett from 11 February 		  Joe Launchbury Under Armour Ricoh Arena 32,609 Coventry
Worcester Warriors   Alan Solomons   GJ van Velze VX-3 Sixways Stadium 11,499 Worcester

The pool stage began on 20 September 2019 and ran for four consecutive weeks. Fixtures were announced by Premiership Rugby on 17 July 2019.[6]

Pool 1
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Tries For Tries Against Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Sale Sharks 4 4 0 0 126 77 49 18 9 3 0 19
2 Saracens 4 3 0 1 149 113 36 18 15 2 0 14
3 Wasps 4 2 0 2 123 112 11 17 14 3 1 12
4 Northampton Saints 4 1 0 3 109 151 -42 15 23 3 1 8
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Total number of tries scored
Green background means the club qualified for the semi-finals as pool winner.
Blue background means the club qualified for the semi-finals as the best pool runner up. Updated: 12 October 2019
Note that each team played 4 games; 3 pool games plus a derby game against a team in another pool.
Source: "Premiership Rugby Cup 2019-20". Premiership Rugby.

[7]

[8]

(1 BP) Northampton Saints28 – 54Saracens (1 BP)
Try: Symons (2) 14' c, 35' c
Taylor 23' c
Ribbans 49' c
Con: Grayson (4/4) 14', 24', 36', 50'		ReportTry: Gallagher 7' m
Segun 29' m
Tompkins (3) 32' c, 60' c, 75' c
Spencer 51' c
Vunipola 64' c
Con: Whiteley (1/3) 34'
Vunipola (4/4) 53', 62', 65', 76'
Pen: Whiteley (3) 17', 40'+3, 41'

[9]

Pool 2
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Tries For Tries Against Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Harlequins 4 3 0 1 106 89 17 14 12 1 1 14
2 Bristol Bears 4 2 0 2 95 110 -15 12 16 1 0 9
3 London Irish 4 1 0 3 116 121 -5 16 16 2 2 8
4 Gloucester 4 0 0 4 101 135 -34 16 19 3 2 5
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Total number of tries scored
Green background means the club qualified for the semi-finals as pool winner.
Blue background means the club qualified for the semi-finals as the best pool runner up. Updated: 12 October 2019
Note that each team played 4 games; 3 pool games plus a derby game against a team in another pool.
Source: "Premiership Rugby Cup 2019-20". Premiership Rugby.

Kingsholm
Attendance: 11,287
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe

[7]

[8]

[9]

Pool 3
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Tries For Tries Against Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Exeter Chiefs 4 3 0 1 111 79 32 15 12 3 0 15
2 Leicester Tigers 4 2 0 2 90 102 -12 12 14 2 0 10
3 Bath 4 2 0 2 83 98 -15 12 14 2 0 10
4 Worcester Warriors 4 1 0 3 110 132 -22 15 16 2 0 6
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Total number of tries scored
Green background means the club qualified for the semi-finals as pool winner.
Blue background means the club qualified for the semi-finals as the best pool runner up. Updated: 12 October 2019
Note that each team played 4 games; 3 pool games plus a derby game against a team in another pool.
Source: "Premiership Rugby Cup 2019-20". Premiership Rugby.

Sixways
Attendance: 6,037
Referee: Christophe Ridley

[7]

[8]

[9]

Round 4 (derby games)

edit

After three pool games, each team played a 'derby' game against a team in another pool, with results counting towards the final standings in each pool.

Kingsholm
Attendance: 13,197
Referee: Ian Tempest

Sandy Park
Attendance: 9,706
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys

[10]

The four qualifiers were seeded according to performance in the pool stage. The top 2 seeds hosted the semi-finals against the lower seeds, in a 1 v 4, 2v 3 format. Note, if two teams qualified from the same pool, they could still be drawn together in the semi-finals. Semi-finals were held over a two-week period in early February followed by the final originally scheduled for mid-March but postponed to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teams are 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, aggregate points difference
4 – where the aggregate points difference are equal, greatest number of points scored
5 – where the greatest number of points are equal, greatest number of tries scored

[11]

Rank Pool leaders Pts Wins Diff PF TF
1 Sale Sharks 19 4 49 126 18
2 Exeter Chiefs 15 3 32 111 15
3 Harlequins 14 3 17 106 14
Rank Pool runners–up Pts Wins Diff PF TF
4 Saracens 14 3 36 149 18
5 Leicester Tigers 10 2 -12 90 12
6 Bristol Bears 9 2 -15 95 12
Semi-finalsFinal
      
2 February 2020 — Sandy Park
Exeter Chiefs22
21 September 2020 — AJ Bell Stadium
Harlequins49
Sale Sharks27
7 February 2020 — AJ Bell Stadium
Harlequins19
Sale Sharks28
Saracens7

Sandy Park
Attendance: 9,418
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe

[12]

21 September 2020[c]
19:45

FB 15   Simon Hammersly
RW 14   Denny Solomona
OC 13   Sam James
IC 12   Rohan Janse van Rensburg
LW 11   Marland Yarde
FH 10   Rob du Preez
SH 9   Will Cliff
N8 8   Dan du Preez
OF 7   Ben Curry
BF 6   Jono Ross (c)
RL 5   Jean-Luc du Preez
LL 4   Cobus Wiese
TP 3   Jake Cooper-Woolley
HK 2   Curtis Langdon
LP 1   Coenie Oosthuizen
Substitutions:
HK 16   Akker van der Merwe
PR 17   Valery Morozov
PR 18   WillGriff John
LK 19   James Phillips
FL 20   Tom Curry
SH 21   Faf de Klerk
FH 22   AJ MacGinty
CE 23   Manu Tuilagi
Coach:
  Steve Diamond
FB 15   Mike Brown
RW 14   Nathan Earle
OC 13   Joe Marchant
IC 12   Luke Northmore
LW 11   Aaron Morris
FH 10   Marcus Smith
SH 9   Danny Care
N8 8   James Chisholm
OF 7   Will Evans
BF 6   Chris Robshaw (c)
RL 5   Stephan Lewies
LL 4   Dino Lamb
TP 3   Simon Kerrod
HK 2   Scott Baldwin
LP 1   Santiago García Botta
Substitutions:
HK 16   Elia Elia
PR 17   Marc Thomas
PR 18   Wilco Louw
LK 19   Glen Young
FL 20   Alex Dombrandt
SH 21   Martin Landajo
CE 22   Andre Esterhuizen
CE 23   James Lang
Coach:
  Billy Millard
Club Home
matches 		Total Average Highest Lowest % Capacity
Bath 2 25,856 12,928 13,190 12,666 89%
Bristol Bears 2 12,139 6,070 7,274 4,865 22%
Exeter Chiefs 3 28,846 9,615 9,722 9,418 73%
Gloucester 2 24,484 12,242 13,197 11,287 76%
Harlequins 2 21,547 10,774 12,496 9,051 73%
Leicester Tigers 2 29,793 14,897 16,160 13,633 58%
London Irish 2 5,807 2,904 3,249 2,558 12%
Northampton Saints 2 23,631 11,816 12,000 11,631 77%
Sale Sharks 3 20,545 6,848 7,992 5,744 57%
Saracens 2 11,159 5,580 5,761 5,398 66%
Wasps 2 12,445 6,223 6,341 6,104 19%
Worcester Warriors 2 12,780 6,390 6,743 6,037 56%

Individual statistics

edit

  • Points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Appearance figures also include coming on as substitutes (unused substitutes not included).
Largest home win — 34 points

57 – 23 Worcester Warriors at home to Leicester Tigers on 21 September 2019

Largest away win — 27 points

49 – 22 Harlequins away to Exeter Chiefs on 31 January 2020

Most points scored — 57

57 – 23 Worcester Warriors at home to Leicester Tigers on 21 September 2019

Most tries in a match — 8

Worcester Warriors at home to Leicester Tigers on 21 September 2019

Most conversions in a match — 6 (2)

Worcester Warriors at home to Leicester Tigers on 21 September 2019
Exeter Chiefs at home to Bristol Bears on 12 October 2019

Most penalties in a match — 4

Saracens away to Wasps on 21 September 2019

Most drop goals in a match — 1

Leicester Tigers away to Bath on 5 October 2019

Most points in a match — 23

  Ben Spencer for Saracens at home to Harlequins on 12 October 2019

Most tries in a match — 3 (4)

  Scott Steele for London Irish away to Gloucester on 21 September 2019
  Tom Howe for Worcester Warriors at home to Exeter Chiefs on 4 October 2019
  Nick Tompkins for Saracens away to Northampton Saints on 6 October 2019
  Marcus Watson for Wasps at home to Worcester Warriors on 12 October 2019

Most conversions in a match — 5 (3)

  Marcus Smith for Harlequins at home to Gloucester on 5 October 2019
  Tiff Eden for Bristol Bears at home to London Irish on 6 October 2019
  Joe Simmonds for Exeter Chiefs at home to Bristol Bears on 12 October 2019

Most penalties in a match — 4

  Tom Whiteley for Saracens away to Wasps on 21 September 2019

Most drop goals in a match — 1

  Tom Hardwick for Leicester Tigers away to Bath on 5 October 2019

Highest — 16,160

Leicester Tigers at home to Northampton Saints on 12 October 2019

Lowest — 2,558

London Irish at home to Sale Sharks on 12 October 2019

  1. ^ Sandy Park's capacity increased from 12,921 to 13,593 from December 2019 onward.[5]
  2. ^ Allianz Park will have a reduced capacity this season due to redevelopment works.
  3. ^ Originally scheduled for 15 March 2020 but postponed due to a Harlequins staff member testing positive for COVID-19.[13]
  4. ^ Match played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  1. ^ "Premiership Rugby Cup to replace Anglo-Welsh Cup from next season". BBC Sport. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Match Report: Northampton Saints 23-9 Saracens". Premiership Rugby. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Premiership Rugby Cup Final: Northampton beat Saracens with three first-half tries". BBC Sport. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Premiership Rugby Cup Format". Premiership Rugby. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Premiership champions confirm stadium expansion". Ruck. 9 July 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Gallagher Premiership Rugby Cup kicks off in September live on BT Sport". Premiership Rugby. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Premiership Rugby Cup". The RugbyPaper. No. 575. 22 September 2019. pp. 26–27 & 38.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Premiership Rugby Cup". The RugbyPaper. No. 576. 29 September 2019. pp. 22–23 & 38.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Premiership Rugby Cup". The RugbyPaper. No. 577. 6 October 2019. pp. 22–23 & 38.
  10. ^ a b c "Premiership Rugby Cup". The RugbyPaper. No. 578. 13 October 2019. pp. 22–23 & 38.
  11. ^ "Premiership Rugby Cup (Competition Format)". Premiership Rugby. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  12. ^ a b c "Premiership Rugby Cup". The RugbyPaper. No. 595. 9 February 2020. pp. 18 & 32.
  13. ^ "Premiership Rugby Cup Final between Sale and Harlequins postponed due to coronavirus outbreak". Evening Standard. 13 March 2020.