2016–17 British and Irish Cup

The 2016–17 British and Irish Cup was the eighth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. London Welsh are the defending champions having won the 2015–16 final against Yorkshire Carnegie 10–33 at Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds on 10 April 2016. There have been six different winners and six different losing finalists in the seven seasons of its existence. The format of the competition is similar to last season with Scottish clubs not competing. For the second consecutive season the four Welsh teams are the reserve sides of the teams competing in the Pro12 competition instead of clubs from the Welsh Premier Division.

2016–17 British and Irish Cup
Tournament details
Countries England
Ireland
 Wales
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and knockout
Date14 October 2016 — 21 April 2017
Tournament statistics
Teams19
Matches played63
Attendance62,823 (997 per match)
Highest Attendance4,813
Ulster A v London Scottish
13 January 2017
Lowest Attendance200 (x3)
Top point scorer(s) Johnny McPhillips
Ulster A 62
Top try scorer(s) Tom Williams
Scarlets PS 8
Final
VenueIrish Independent Park
ChampionsMunster A (2nd title)
Runners-upJersey Reds [1]

Competition format

The competition format is a pool stage followed by a knockout stage. The pool stage consists of five pools of four teams playing home and away matches. The top side in each pool, plus the three best runners-up, progress to the knockout stage. The eight quarter-finalists are ranked, with top four teams having home advantage. The four winning quarter-finalists progress to the semi-final draw. Most of the matches are played on the same weekends as the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. First round matches began on 14 October 2016 and the final was held on the 21 April 2017.

Participating teams and locations

The allocation of teams is as follows:

  • – twelve clubs from RFU Championship
  • – four Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams
  • – four Welsh regions represented by Premiership Select teams.

Pool stages

Key to colours
     Winner of each pool, advance to quarter-finals.
     Three highest-scoring second-place teams advance to quarter-finals.

Pool 1

Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
Jersey Reds 650118194873023
Ulster A 6402153124292220
London Scottish 6204134157−232212
Cardiff Blues Premiership Select 6105104197−93037
Source: Updated: 10 March 2017
Points breakdown:
*4 points for a win
*2 points for a draw
*1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less
*1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match

Round 1

14 October 2016
19:00
Ulster A 19 – 6 Jersey Reds
Report
Shaw's Bridge, Belfast
Attendance: 200
Referee: Dewi Phillips
15 October 2016
14:30
(BP) Cardiff Blues Premiership Select 21 – 26 London Scottish (BP)
Report
BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park
Attendance: 787
Referee: Frank Murphy

[4]


Round 2

21 October 2016
19:45
(BP) Jersey Reds 49 – 12 Cardiff Blues Premiership Select
Report
St Peter
Attendance: 1,551
Referee: Ben Blain
22 October 2016
14:30
(BP) London Scottish 34 – 29 Ulster A (2BP)
Report
Athletic Ground
Attendance: 906
Referee: Gareth Newman

[5]


Round 3

9 December 2016
17:00
Ulster A 16 – 10 Cardiff Blues Premiership Select (BP)
Report
Eaton Park, Ballymena
Attendance: 1,301
Referee: Veryan Boscawen
10 December 2016
14:30
London Scottish 13 – 22 Jersey Reds
Report
Athletic Ground
Attendance: 947
Referee: Johnny Erskine

[6]


Round 4

16 December 2016
19:45
Jersey Reds 23 – 19 London Scottish (BP)
Report
St Peter
Attendance: 1,151
Referee: Ben Blain
17 December 2016
14:30
(BP) Cardiff Blues premiership Select 27 – 30 Ulster A
Report
Sardis Road, Pontypridd
Attendance: 325
Referee: Hamish Smales

[7]


Round 5

13 January 2017
19:00
(BP) Ulster A 38 – 21 London Scottish
Report
Kingspan Stadium
Attendance: 4,813
Referee: Joy Neville
14 January 2017
Cardiff Blues Premiership Select 10 – 55 Jersey Reds (BP)
Report
The Wern, Merthyr Tydfil
Attendance: 973
Referee: Nigel Correll

[8]


Round 6

21 January 2017
14:00
(BP) Jersey Reds 26 – 21 Ulster A (BP)
Report
St Peter
Attendance: 1,406
Referee: Craig Evans
10 March 2017
19:00
(BP) London Scottish 21 – 24 Cardiff Blues Premiership Select
Report
Athletic Ground
Attendance: 400
Referee: Calum Howard
  • Postponed from 21 January due to frozen pitch.[9][10]

[11]

Pool 2

London Welsh entered liquidation on 8 December 2016 and were disqualified from the competition and their results from rounds 1 and 2 annulled.[12]

Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
Munster A 440012155663019
Rotherham Titans 410373102−25015
Doncaster Knights 41036198−41004
Source : Updated: 21 January 2017
Points breakdown:
*4 points for a win
*2 points for a draw
*1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less
*1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match

Round 1

15 October 2016
14:30
Munster A 15 – 30 London Welsh (BP)
Report
Towns Park, Midleton
Attendance: 350
Referee: Fergus Kirby
  • London Welsh expelled from the competition
15 October 2016
15:00
Rotherham Titans 34 – 17 Doncaster Knights
Report
Clifton Lane
Attendance: 750
Referee: Jake Makepeace

[4]


Round 2

22 October 2016
14:00
(BP) London Welsh 40 – 24 Rotherham Titans
Report
Old Deer Park
Attendance: 728
Referee: Adam Leal
  • London Welsh expelled from the competition.
22 October 2016
14:30
Doncaster Knights P – P Munster A
Castle Park
  • Match postponed due to the death of Munster Rugby's head coach Anthony Foley and played on 7 January 2016.[5][13]

[14]


Round 3

10 December 2016
14:00
Rotherham Titans 24 – 35 Munster A (BP)
Report
Clifton Lane
Attendance: 704
Referee: Rhys Thomas

[6]


Round 4

18 December 2016
14:00
(BP) Munster A 34 – 3 Rotherham Titans
Report
The Showgrounds, Ennis
Attendance: 350
Referee: Craig Evans

[7]


Round 2 (rescheduled game)

7 January 2016
14:30
Doncaster Knights 12 – 28 Munster A (BP)
Report
Castle Park
Attendance: 974
Referee: Stuart Gaffikin
  • Match postponed from 22 October 2016.

[15]


Round 5

13 January 2017
19:00
Munster A 24 – 16 Doncaster Knights
Report
Old Chapel, Bandon
Attendance: 937
Referee: Dewi Phillips

[8]


Round 6

21 January 2017
14:00
Doncaster Knights 16 – 12 Rotherham Titans (BP)
Report
Castle Park
Attendance: 1,207
Referee: Ben Blain

[10]

Pool 3

Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
London Irish 650115497574125
Cornish Pirates 640218899893120
Ospreys Premiership Select 6303130155−252014
Connacht Eagles 600682223−141112
Source: Updated: 21 January 2017
Points breakdown:
*4 points for a win
*2 points for a draw
*1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less
*1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match

Round 1

15 October 2016
14:30
Ospreys Premiership Select 14 – 25 London Irish (BP)
Report
The Gnoll, Neath
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Matt Turvey
16 October 2016
14:30
Connacht Eagles 10 – 23 Cornish Pirates
Report
Galway Sportsground
Attendance: 200
Referee: Ben Blain

[4]


Round 2

22 October 2016
15:00
(BP) London Irish 34 – 3 Connacht Eagles
Report
Madejski Stadium
Attendance: 3,109
Referee: Michael Hudson
23 October 2016
14:00
(BP) Cornish Pirates 41 – 5 Ospreys Premiership Select
Report
Mennaye Field
Attendance: 1,405
Referee: Sean Gallagher

[5]


Round 3

10 December 2016
14:30
(BP) Connacht Eagles 17 – 20 Ospreys Premiership Select
Report
Galway Sportsground
Attendance: 419
Referee: Jack Makepeace
11 December 2016
15:00
(BP) London Irish 33 – 24 Cornish Pirates
Report
Madejski Stadium
Attendance: 2,695
Referee: Adam Jones

[6]


Round 4

18 December 2016
14:00
(BP) Cornish Pirates 16 – 17 London Irish
Report
Mennaye Field
Attendance: 1,426
Referee: Fergus Kirby
18 December 2016
14:00
(BP) Ospreys Premiership Select 55 – 14 Connacht Eagles
Report
Talbot Athletic Ground, Port Talbot
Attendance: 542
Referee: Adam Leal

[7]


Round 5

14 January 2017
14:30
Connacht Eagles 14 – 41 London Irish (BP)
Report
Dubarry Park, Athlone
Attendance: 695
Referee: Ben Blain
14 January 2017
14:30
Ospreys Premiership Select 10 – 34 Cornish Pirates (BP)
Report
Llynfi Road, Maesteg
Attendance: 872
Referee: Jonny Erskine

[8]


Round 6

21 January 2017
14:00
(BP) Cornish Pirates 50 – 24 Connacht Eagles (BP)
Report
Mennaye Field
Attendance: 1,120
Referee: Matt Turvey
21 January 2017
14:00
(BP) London Irish 24 – 26 Ospreys Premiership Select (BP)
Report
Madejski Stadium
Attendance: 2,221
Referee: Joy Neville

[10]

Pool 4

Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
Scarlets Premiership Select 6402198149495122
Leinster A 63032561331233116
Nottingham Rugby 6303148136123015
Richmond 6204100284−184109
Source: Updated: 21 January 2017
Points breakdown:
*4 points for a win
*2 points for a draw
*1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less
*1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match

Round 1

15 October 2016
15:00
Richmond 19 – 68 Leinster A (BP)
Report
Athletic Ground
Attendance: 512
Referee: Adam Jones
16 October 2016
15:00
Nottingham Rugby 11 – 33 Scarlets Premiership Select (BP)
Report
Lady Bay Sports Ground
Attendance: 791[16]
Referee: Sean Gallagher

[4]


Round 2

22 October 2016
14:30
(BP) Scarlets Premiership Select 58 – 7 Richmond
Report
Church Bank Playing Fields, Llandovery
Attendance: 350
Referee: Stuart Gaffikin
23 October 2016
15:00
Leinster A 21 – 29 Nottingham Rugby (BP)
Report
Donnybrook Stadium
Attendance: 950
Referee: Gary Glennon

[5]


Round 3

10 December 2016
14:00
(BP) Leinster A 65 – 13 Scarlets Premiership Select
Report
Donnybrook Stadium
Attendance: 1,018
Referee: Ben Blain
11 December 2016
15:00
(BP) Nottingham Rugby 43 – 3 Richmond
Report
Lady Bay Sports Ground
Attendance: 1,084
Referee: Hamish Smales

[6]


Round 4

17 December 2016
14:30
(BP) Scarlets Premiership Select 27 – 7 Leinster A
Report
Carmarthen Park, Carmarthen
Attendance: 250
Referee: Matt Turvey
17 December 2016
15:00
Richmond 20 – 12 Nottingham Rugby
Report
Athletic Ground
Attendance: 485
Referee: Dew Phillips

[7]


Round 5

13 January 2017
19:45
(BP) Nottingham Rugby 28 – 24 Leinster A (BP)
Report
Lady Bay Sports Ground
Attendance: 1,367
Referee: Rhys Thomas
14 January 2017
15:00
(BP) Richmond 34 – 32 Scarlets Premiership Select (2BP)
Report
Athletic Ground
Attendance: 396
Referee: Adam Leal

[8]


Round 6

20 January 2017
19:30
(BP) Leinster A 71 – 17 Richmond
Report
Donnybrook Stadium
Attendance: 673
Referee: Gareth Newman
21 January 2017
14:00
(BP) Scarlets Premiership Select 35 – 25 Nottingham Rugby
Report
Parc y Scarlets
Attendance: 250
Referee: Veryan Boscawen

[10]

Pool 5

Team P W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
Ealing Trailfinders 6411194123713223
Yorkshire Carnegie 6402156130263120
Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select 6204118170−521211
Bedford Blues 6114119173−54118
Source: Updated: 21 January 2017
Points breakdown:
*4 points for a win
*2 points for a draw
*1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less
*1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match

Round 1

15 October 2016
15:00
(BP) Ealing Trailfinders 51 – 35 Yorkshire Carnegie (BP)
Report
Trailfinders Sports Club
Attendance: 468
Referee: Veryan Boscawen
15 October 2016
15:00
(BP) Bedford Blues 46 – 33 Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select (BP)
Report
Goldington Road
Attendance: 2,218
Referee: Joy Neville

[4]


Round 2

22 October 2016
14:30
(BP) Yorkshire Carnegie 52 – 28 Bedford Blues
Report
Sandhill Lane Stadium, Selby
Attendance: 623
Referee: Fergus Kirby
22 October 2016
15:00
(BP) Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select 27 – 28 Ealing Trailfinders
Report
Pandy Park, Crosskeys
Attendance: 200
Referee: Matt Turvey

[5]


Round 3

10 December 2016
15:00
Bedford Blues 19 – 19 Ealing Trailfinders
Report
Goldington Road
Attendance: 1,707
Referee: Adam Leal
11 December 2016
14:15
Yorkshire Carnegie 20 – 17 Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select (BP)
Report
Moor Lane, Pontefract
Attendance: 428
Referee: Nigel Correll

[6]


Round 4

17 December 2016
15:00
Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select 22 – 20 Yorkshire Carnegie (BP)
Report
CCB Centre, Ystrad Mynach
Attendance: 315
Referee: Jonny Erskine
17 December 2016
15:00
(BP) Ealing Trailfinders 40 – 23 Bedford Blues
Report
Trailfinders Sports Club
Attendance: 428
Referee: Gareth Newman

[7]


Round 5

14 January 2017
15:00
Bedford Blues 12 – 29 Yorkshire Carnegie (BP)
Report
Goldington Road
Attendance: 1,874
Referee: Hamish Smales
14 January 2017
15:00
(BP) Ealing Trailfinders 56 – 19 Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select
Report
Trailfinders Sports Club
Attendance: 433
Referee: Fergus Kirby

[8]


Round 6

21 January 2017
14:00
Yorkshire Carnegie 14 – 10 Ealing Trailfinders (BP)
Report
Silver Royd, Scalby
Attendance: 834
Referee: Rhys Thomas
21 January 2017
16:30
Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select 15 – 12 Bedford Blues (BP)
Report
CCB Centre, Ystrad Mynach[a 1]
Attendance: 652
Referee: Stuart Gaffikin
    • Initially due to be held at The Bridge Field, Bedwas but because of a frozen pitch, the venue was changed and the kick-off time moved from 14:00 to 16:30.[17]

[10]

Knock-out stage

The eight qualifiers were seeded according to performance in the pool stage. The four top seeds hosted the quarter-finals against the lower seeds, in a 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5 format. If two teams qualified from the same group they could not be drawn together despite the seeding, therefore, Jersey Reds did not play against Ulster A. The quarter-finals were held over the weekend of 10/11/12 March 2017, the semi-finals were held over the weekend of 31 March and 1 & 2 April 2017 and the final was played on 21/22/23 April 2017.

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
Seed Pool winners Pts Wins Pts diff
1 London Irish25557
2 Jersey Reds23587
3 Ealing Trailfinders23471
4 Scarlets Premiership Select22449
5 Munster A19466
Seed Pool Runners–up Pts Wins Pts diff
6 Cornish Pirates20489
7 Ulster A20429
8 Yorkshire Carnegie20426
9 Leinster A163123
10 Rotherham Titans51−25
 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
12 March 2017 - Irish Independent Park
 
 
Munster A26
 
31 March - CIT Stadium
 
Ulster A3
 
Munster A25
 
11 March 2017 - Trailfinders Sports Ground
 
Ealing Trailfinders9
 
Ealing Trailfinders84
 
21 April 2017 - Irish Independent Park, Cork
 
Scarlets Premiership Select7
 
Munster A29
 
11 March 2017 - Madejski Stadium
 
Jersey Reds 28
 
London Irish 37
 
2 April 2017 - Madejski Stadium
 
Yorkshire Carnegie 14
 
London Irish 17
 
10 March 2017 - St. Peter
 
Jersey Reds 25
 
Jersey Reds 36
 
 
Cornish Pirates 20
 

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 23 January 2017, with the matches to be played on the weekend of 10–13 March 2017.[18]

10 March 2017
19:45
Jersey Reds 36 – 20 Cornish Pirates
Report
St Peter
Attendance: 1,515
Referee: Jack Makepeace
11 March 2017
14:00
London Irish 37 – 14 Yorkshire Carnegie
Report
Madejski Stadium
Attendance: 1,479
Referee: Rhys Thomas
11 March 2017
14:00
Ealing Trailfinders 84 – 7 Scarlets Premiership Select
Report
Trailfinders Sports Ground
Attendance: 650
Referee: Nigel Correll
12 March 2017
15:00
Munster A 26 - 3 Ulster A
Report
Irish Independent Park, Cork
Attendance: 800
Referee: Fergus Kirby

[11][19]


Semi-finals

31 March 2017
19:30
Munster A 25 – 9 Ealing Trailfinders
Report
CIT Stadium, Cork
Attendance: 732
Referee: Rhys Thomas
2 April 2017
14:00
London Irish 17 – 25 Jersey Reds
Report
Madejski Stadium
Attendance: 1,394
Referee: Jack Makepeace

[20][21]


Final

21 April 2017
19:30
Munster A 29 – 28 Jersey Reds
Report
Irish Independent Park, Cork
Attendance: 983
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys

[22][23]

Attendances

Club Home
matches
Total Average Highest Lowest % Capacity
Bedford Blues35,7991,9332,2181,70732%
Cardiff Premiership Select32,08569597332511%
Connacht Eagles31,3144386952005%
Cornish Pirates33,9511,3171,4261,12033%
Doncaster Knights22,1811,0911,20797422%
Ealing Trailfinders41,97949565042816%
Jersey Reds45,6231,4061,5511,15135%
Leinster A32,6418801,01867314%
London Irish510,8982,1803,1091,3949%
London Scottish32,25375194740017%
London Welsh1[b 1]72872872872812%
Munster A64,15269298335042%
Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select31,16738965220034%
Nottingham Rugby33,2421,0811,36779136%
Ospreys Premiership Select32,9149711,50054224%
Richmond31,39346451239610%
Rotherham Titans2[b 2]1,45472775070429%
Scarlets Premiership Select38502833502507%
Ulster A36,3142,1054,81320047%
Yorkshire Carnegie31,88562883442843%

[4][5][6][7][8][10][11][19][20][21][22]

    • London Welsh only played 1 home game as they were disqualified from the competition due to going into liquidation.[12]
    • Rotherham only played 2 home games due to London Welsh being disqualified from the competition due to going into liquidation.

Individual statistics

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

Season records

References

  1. "Jersey reds lose at Irish Independent Park". Jersey Evening Post. 21 April 2017. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  2. "ENNIS GEARS UP FOR MUNSTER A MATCH". Ennis RFC. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  3. "Sport at Cork Institute of Technology" (PDF). Cork Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  4. "British & Irish Cup". The RUGBYPaper (422). Rugby Paper Ltd. 16 October 2016. pp. 30–31 & 40.
  5. "British & Irish Cup". The RUGBYPaper (423). Rugby Paper Ltd. 16 October 2016. pp. 28–29 & 38.
  6. "British & Irish Cup". The RUGBYPaper (430). Rugby Paper Ltd. 11 December 2016. pp. 28–29 & 38.
  7. "British & Irish Cup". The RUGBYPaper (431). Rugby Paper Ltd. 18 December 2016. pp. 28–29 & 38.
  8. "British & Irish Cup". The RUGBYPaper (435). Rugby Paper Ltd. 15 January 2016. pp. 28–29 & 38.
  9. "London Scottish v Cardiff Blues postponed". London Scottish FC. 20 January 2017.
  10. "British & Irish Cup". The RUGBYPaper (435). Rugby Paper Ltd. 22 January 2016. pp. 28–29 & 38.
  11. "British & Irish Cup". The RUGBYPaper (443). Rugby Paper Ltd. 12 March 2017. pp. 26–27 & 40.
  12. "London Welsh: Liquidated club disqualified British & Irish Cup". BBC Sport. 9 December 2016.
  13. "POSTPONEMENT OF B&I MATCH V MUNSTER 'A'". Doncaster Knights. 22 October 2016.
  14. "RESCHEDULED FIXTURE: DONCASTER KNIGHTS V MUNSTER 'A'". Doncaster Knights. 2 November 2016.
  15. "British & Irish Cup". The RugbyPaper (434). 8 January 2017. pp. 26 & 34.
  16. "Scarlets Premiership Select Fixtures & Results". Scarlets. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  17. "Kick Off has been postponed and moved to @CSEYstradMynach". Bedford Blues (Twitter). 21 January 2017.
  18. "British & Irish Cup Quarter Finals Draw". Cornish Pirates. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  19. "Munster A 26 - 3 Ulster A". Munster Rugby. 12 March 2017.
  20. "British & Irish Cup". The RUGBYPaper (446). Rugby Paper Ltd. 2 April 2017. pp. 28 & 38.
  21. "MATCH REPORT: LONDON IRISH'S BRITISH & IRISH CUP RUN COMES TO AN END". London Irish. 2 April 2017.
  22. "British & Irish Cup". The RUGBYPaper (449). Rugby Paper Ltd. 23 April 2017. pp. 16 & 40.
  23. "B&I CUP FINAL: MUNSTER A DEFEAT JERSEY REDS 29-28". England Rugby. 21 April 2017.
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