2016–17 Principality Premiership

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2016–17 Principality Premiership
Countries Wales
Date2 September 2016 – 21 May 2017
ChampionsMerthyr (1st title)
Runners-upAberavon
Relegatednone
Matches played182
← 2015–16
2017–18 →

The 2016–17 Principality Premiership was the first season of the new format of the Principality Premiership, the top tier of club rugby in Wales run by the Welsh Rugby Union. It was contested by sixteen Welsh clubs following an expansion from twelve teams. The next two seasons will be "ring-fenced" and will have no relegation until the 2018–19 season. The competition was won by Merthyr in their first season in the Premiership. The second-tier competition was won by Newport who won their first silverware since the 2003–04 Premiership season.

Structure[]

The Principality Premiership's structure includes all the teams playing each other once, either home or away, before the table is split into a top 8 and bottom 8 after 15 rounds and points are reset to zero. Each team then plays each other team once, again either home or away, in their respective tier. After all fixtures have been played, a play-off system is implemented for the top 4 teams in each section to determine the winner. The play-off winner of the top 8 will be crowned 2016–17 Principality Premiership champions. This is the first season in which the "ring-fenced" system will be implemented, meaning no team is in danger of relegation until the 2018–19 season.

Teams[]

After a two-season absence spent in the WRU Championship, Swansea returned to the Premiership finishing as runners-up in the 2015–16 WRU Championship. Also promoted to the Premiership, for the first time, were Championship winners Merthyr, Bargoed and RGC 1404, who narrowly finished above Pontypool to deny them a return to the Premiership after demotion in 2012.

Locations of the 2016–17 Principality Premiership teams with colour markers to represent the region they belong to:

Orange = Newport Gwent Dragons
Blue = Cardiff Blues
Black = Ospreys
Red = Scarlets

  • RGC acts as a de facto club representing North Wales
Club Stadium Capacity Area
Aberavon Talbot Athletic Ground 3,000 Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot
Bargoed 1,500 Bargoed, Caerphilly
Bedwas Bridge Field 2,000 Bedwas, Caerphilly
Bridgend Brewery Field 8,000 Bridgend
Cardiff Cardiff Arms Park 12,125 Cardiff
Carmarthen Quins Carmarthen Park 3,000 Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire
Cross Keys 3,000 Crosskeys, Caerphilly
Ebbw Vale Eugene Cross Park 8,000 Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent
Llandovery 3,000 Llandovery, Carmarthenshire
Llanelli Parc y Scarlets 14,870 Llanelli, Carmarthenshire
Merthyr The Wern 4,500 Merthyr Tydfil
Neath The Gnoll 6,000 Neath, Neath Port Talbot
Newport Rodney Parade 11,676 Newport
Pontypridd Sardis Road 7,861 Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf
RGC 1404 Eirias Stadium 6,000 Colwyn Bay, Conwy
Swansea St Helen's 4,500 Swansea

Standings (Phase One)[]

2016–17 Principality Premiership Table
  • v
  • t
Team Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff Tries for Tries against Try bonus Losing bonus Points
1 Aberavon 15 11 1 3 475 277 198 67 32 7 2 55
2 Bedwas 15 10 1 4 377 269 108 47 34 6 4 52
3 Merthyr 15 10 0 5 442 323 119 58 36 9 2 51
4 RGC 1404 15 10 1 4 431 281 150 52 32 5 1 48
5 Pontypridd 15 10 0 5 389 373 16 50 43 6 1 47
6 Carmarthen Quins 15 9 1 5 384 305 79 42 39 5 4 47
7 Llandovery 15 8 1 6 416 287 129 49 34 5 4 43
8 Ebbw Vale 15 9 0 6 354 311 43 41 34 4 2 42
9 Cardiff 15 7 0 8 325 314 11 36 38 2 7 37
10 Newport 15 7 0 8 291 339 -48 34 41 3 2 33
11 Llanelli 15 6 1 8 291 367 -76 35 48 4 2 32
12 Cross Keys 15 7 0 8 298 301 -3 36 35 2 1 31
13 Bridgend 15 4 0 11 232 332 -100 21 42 2 4 22
14 Neath 15 4 0 11 254 464 -210 29 57 0 3 19
15 Bargoed 15 3 0 12 196 393 -197 26 44 1 3 16
16 Swansea 15 2 0 13 239 458 -219 29 63 0 5 13

After 15 rounds, the table is split into two groups (top 8 and bottom 8)

  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Number of tries scored
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Difference between points for and against

Updated: 4 December 2016
Source: "Principality Premiership". allwalessport.

Phase Two[]

After 15 rounds, the table is split into a top 8 and bottom 8 and points are reset to zero. Each team now plays each other team once, either home or away, in their respective tiers to total 22 games over the entire season. After these 7 rounds, a play-off system is implemented for the top 4 teams of each tier respectively. The winners of the play-offs for Tier One are crowned 2016–17 Principality Premiership champions.

Standings (Tier One)[]

Team 		Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff Tries for Tries against Try bonus Losing bonus Points
1 Merthyr (C) 7 6 0 1 255 132 123 32 17 5 1 30
2 Aberavon (F) 7 5 0 2 174 140 34 23 17 4 0 24
3 Bedwas (SF) 7 5 0 2 168 146 22 18 17 2 0 22
4 RGC 1404 (SF) 7 4 0 3 176 162 14 22 17 3 1 20
5 Pontypridd 7 3 0 4 165 170 -5 21 21 2 1 15
6 Llandovery 7 3 0 4 156 240 -84 19 34 1 1 14
7 Ebbw Vale 7 2 0 5 142 160 -18 18 14 2 4 14
8 Carmarthen Quins 7 0 0 7 128 214 -86 15 31 0 2 2
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Number of tries scored
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Difference between points for and against

Updated: 7 May 2017
Source: "Principality Premiership Tier 1". allwalessport.

Fixtures (Tier One)[]

Semi Finals[]

13 May 2017
14:30
Merthyr 35–7 RGC 1404
The Wern
14 May 2017
15:30
Aberavon 31–24 Bedwas
Talbot Athletic Ground

Final[]

21 May 2017
15:30
Aberavon 18–22 Merthyr
Talbot Athletic Ground

Standings (Tier Two)[]

Team 		Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff Tries for Tries against Try bonus Losing bonus Points
1 Newport (C) 7 5 0 2 141 107 34 18 13 2 1 23
2 Neath (F) 7 4 1 2 207 141 66 25 17 4 1 23
3 Cross Keys (SF) 7 5 0 2 126 133 -7 15 16 2 0 22
4 Llanelli (SF) 7 4 0 3 172 122 50 23 13 3 2 21
5 Bridgend 7 4 0 3 159 135 24 19 18 3 1 20
6 Cardiff 7 2 0 5 161 160 1 18 21 2 3 13
7 Bargoed 7 2 0 5 124 208 -84 18 27 3 1 12
8 Swansea 7 1 1 5 104 188 -84 13 24 2 1 9
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Number of tries scored
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Difference between points for and against

Updated: 7 May 2017
Source: "Principality Premiership Tier 2". allwalessport.

Fixtures (Tier Two)[]

Semi Finals[]

13 May 2017
14:30
Newport 22–17 Llanelli
Rodney Parade
14 May 2017
14:30
Neath 33–13 Cross Keys
The Gnoll

Final[]

20 May 2017
19:30
Neath 14–32 Newport
The Gnoll

External links[]

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