2018–19 Principality Premiership

2018–19 Principality Premiership
2018–19 Principality Premiership
Countries	Wales
Date	1 September 2018 – 18 May 2019
Champions	Merthyr (3rd title)
Relegated	Bedwas; Cross Keys; Bargoed; Neath
Matches played	240
	← 2017–18 2019–20 →

The 2018–19 Principality Premiership was the third 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 at the start of the 2016–17 season. The 2018–19 season saw the end of "ring-fencing" and relegation returned for this season with four teams being automatically relegated to the 2019–20 WRU Championship and a fifth team avoiding relegation by winning a play-off.

Structure[]

The structure this year has reverted to a traditional league. Each team will play each other team on a home and away basis for a total of 30 games. League points are awarded as such – 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw and 0 for a loss. Teams can also earn an additional bonus point by scoring four or more tries in a match and/or losing by less than seven points. This season sees the return of relegation from the Premiership after two seasons of ring fencing. The bottom four sides will automatically be relegated to the Championship for the 2019–20 season. The 12th placed side will play-off against the winners of the 2018–19 WRU Championship at a neutral venue to determine the 12th team in next season's Premiership. If the winners of the Championship do not have an 'A License' necessary to compete in the Premiership, then the 12th placed team will remain in the Premiership for next season.^[1]

Teams[]

The same 16 teams that competed the previous season competed again this season. Merthyr are the reigning champions and are aiming to win the league for the third year in succession.

Carmarthen Quins

Locations of the 2018–19 Principality Premiership teams with colour markers to represent the region they belong to:

Orange = 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[]

2018–19 Principality Premiership Table

Team

Played

Won

Drawn

Lost

PF

PA

PD

TF

TA

TBP

LBP

Total Points

Notes

1

Merthyr (C)

30

23

0

7

885

591

294

130

74

23

2

117

Champions

2

Cardiff

30

22

1

7

991

660

331

129

87

17

4

111

3

Pontypridd

30

22

0

8

1015

580

435

140

76

18

4

110

4

Llandovery

30

21

1

8

854

551

303

112

67

15

3

104

5

Ebbw Vale

30

20

1

9

762

594

168

95

73

9

4

95

6

Aberavon

30

18

2

10

698

603

95

98

81

10

4

90

7

Newport

30

17

2

11

757

700

57

97

96

11

5

88

8

RGC 1404

30

14

1

15

859

650

209

121

83

16

11

85

9

Swansea

30

16

0

14

674

594

80

91

75

13

4

81

10

Carmarthen Quins

30

13

1

16

637

584

53

77

67

8

9

71

11

Bridgend

30

12

0

18

689

714

-25

87

90

9

66

12

Llanelli

30

12

1

17

679

723

-46

91

96

10

3

63

Relegation play-off

13

Bedwas (R)

30

12

1

17

681

835

-154

86

113

8

4

62

Relegated to 2019–20 WRU Championship

14

Cross Keys (R)

30

5

1

24

586

1093

-507

75

160

9

5

36

15

Bargoed (R)

30

6

0

24

576

1003

-427

76

134

8

3

35

16

Neath (R)

30

1

0

29

406

1274

-866

51

184

2

3

3*^{[n 1]}

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

Number of matches won
Number of tries scored
Ratio between points for:points against

^
*Neath were deducted a total of 6 points for failing to fulfil fixtures against Bedwas and RGC 1404 in December.^[2]

Updated: 18 May 2019
Source: "Principality Premiership". allwalessport.

Promotion/relegation play-off[]

The 12th placed team of the Premiership (Llanelli) faced the winner of the Championship (Pontypool) to determine who will be in next season's Premiership. The play-off was a one-off game played at a neutral venue. The venue was announced as Aberavon's home ground the Tablbot Athletic Ground on 7 May 2019.^[3] Llanelli won the game and would therefore remain in the Premiership for the 2019–20 season. Pontypool would contest the Championship for the 2019–20 season

17 May 2019
19:05

Llanelli	27–16	Pontypool

Talbot Athletic Ground

References[]

^ "THE WELSH RUGBY UNION NATIONAL LEAGUE RULES 2018-20" (PDF). Wru.co.uk. Retrieved 1 December 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Statement - Neath". Welsh Rugby Union. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
^ "Details for Principality Premiership play-off released by Welsh Rugby Union | Pontypool RFC".

External links[]

Official website

[Jersey-3] *Neath were deducted a total of 6 points for failing to fulfil fixtures against Bedwas and RGC 1404 in December.^[2]

[1] "THE WELSH RUGBY UNION NATIONAL LEAGUE RULES 2018-20" (PDF). Wru.co.uk. Retrieved 1 December 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}

[2] "Statement - Neath". Welsh Rugby Union. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.

[4] "Details for Principality Premiership play-off released by Welsh Rugby Union | Pontypool RFC".

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[n 1]

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