2021–22 RFU Championship

2021–22 RFU Championship
Countries	England  Jersey
Number of teams	11
Date	17 September 2021 — 20 March 2022
Matches played	80
Attendance	102,645 (average 1,283 per match)
Highest attendance	4,153 – Bedford Blues v Jersey Reds, 26 December 2021
Lowest attendance	475 – London Scottish v Hartpury, 23 October 2021
Tries scored	571 (average 7.1 per match)
Top point scorer	128 – James Williams {Hartpury)
Top try scorer	13 – Mark Bright (Richmond) Simon Uzokwe (Ealing Trailfinders)[1]
← 2020–21  →

The 2021–22 RFU Championship is the thirteenth season of the RFU Championship, the professional second tier of rugby union in England. It features ten English teams and one from Jersey. Saracens are the reigning champions and were promoted to the Premiership.

Structure[]

In a return to the structure used prior to 2020–21, the eleven teams will play each of the other teams twice. There is no end of season play-off and the winner will be promoted to the Premiership subject to meeting the minimum standards criteria. For the second consecutive year no team will be relegated from the league.

RFU funding[]

For the second year in a row each club will receive approximately £161,500 in funding from the RFU as part of the reduction of funding introduced ahead of the 2016–17 season.^[2][3][4] Last season, following news of the funding change, several clubs announced a switch to a semi-professional business model.^[5][6]

Teams[]

Ten of the eleven teams played in last season's competition. Saracens having beaten Ealing Trailfinders in the 2020–21 final were promoted into Premiership Rugby with no team relegated.^[7] London Scottish returned to the league following a one-year hiatus due to the costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.^[8] They intended to leave the Athletic Ground ahead of this season,^[9] however it was later confirmed they would remain at the Athletic Ground.^[10]

Table[]

2021–22 RFU Championship Table · · discuss
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Diff	Try bonus	Losing bonus	Points
1	Ealing Trailfinders	13	11	0	2	609	231	378	11	1	56
2	Doncaster Knights	15	12	0	3	407	245	162	6	0	54
3	Jersey Reds	15	10	1	4	415	312	103	9	2	53
4	Cornish Pirates	13	10	1	2	363	218	145	9	0	51
5	Hartpury	15	7	1	7	427	392	35	8	3	41
6	Ampthill	16	6	1	9	353	417	−64	5	4	35
7	Bedford Blues	15	6	0	9	369	404	−35	5	5	34
8	Coventry	15	6	0	9	296	434	−138	4	2	30
9	Richmond	14	5	1	8	325	376	−51	5	3	30
10	Nottingham	14	3	0	11	293	511	−218	4	3	19
11	London Scottish	15	1	1	13	269	586	−317	3	2	11
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background will be promoted to Premiership Rugby subject to minimum standards criteria. Updated:5 February 2022 Source: "Greene King IPA Championship". England Rugby.

Fixtures & results[]

Fixtures for the season were announced by the RFU on 22 July 2021. The season commenced on 17 September and the final round of matches are due to take place in mid-March. All fixtures are subject to change.

Round 1[]

^[11]

Bye/s: Bedford Blues

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Round 2[]

^[12]

Bye/s: Ealing Trailfinders

---

Round 3[]

Bye/s: Jersey Reds

^[13]

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Round 4[]

Bye/s: Cornish Pirates

^[14]

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Round 5[]

^[15]

Bye/s: Doncaster Knghts

---

Round 6[]

Bye/s: Nottingham

^[16]

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Round 7[]

Bye/s: Ampthill

^[17]

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Round 8[]

Bye/s: Coventry

^[18]

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Round 9[]

Bye/s: Richmond

^[19]

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Round 10[]

Bye/s: London Scottish

^[21]

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Round 11[]

^[22]

Bye/s: Hartpury

Round 12[]

Bye/s: Bedford Blues

^[24]

Round 13[]

Bye/s: Ealing Trailfinders

^[27]

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Round 14[]

Bye/s: Jersey Reds

^[27]

Round 15[]

Bye/s: Cornish Pirates

^[29]

Round 16[]

Bye/s: Doncaster Knights

^[30]

Round 17[]

Bye/s: Nottingham

^[31]

Rounds 10, 12 & 14 (rescheduled matches)[]

^[1]

Round 18[]

Bye/s: Ampthill

Notes[]

References[]