2014-15 British and Irish Cup fixtures

The fixtures for the 2014-15 British and Irish Cup have been confirmed following the confirmation of the new structure featuring four teams each from England, Ireland and Wales.

Played across five pools, each with four teams, the English, Irish and Welsh clubs making up this year’s British and Irish Cup will begin the new season campaign during the second weekend of October (10/11/12).

Drawn in Pool 5, current title holder Leinster ‘A’ will travel to Brickfields, facing Championship side Plymouth Albion. The Irishmen are the only team to have successfully defended their title, securing a win over Leeds Carnegie at Donnybrook in May to retain the trophy after claiming it for the first time in 2012-13.

A local derby awaits 2013-14 runners-up Leeds Carnegie as they host Rotherham Titans at Headingley. While both sides were knocked out of the Championship play-offs, each impressed across the board last season. James Lowes’ men showed commitment to playing with ball in hand, scoring 91 tries in the process while Rotherham captivated Championship followers, progressing to the knock-out stages for the first time following a 7th place finish in the previous season.

The Welsh participants in the British and Irish Cup will be based on regional play-offs at the start of the season, with final positions in last season’s Principality Premiership giving teams Home field advantage. Pontypridd represented the Welsh contingent in last year’s knock-out stages, narrowly losing out to eventual winners Leinster ‘A’ in a thrilling encounter at Sardis Road.

After discussion among all four Unions, four Principality Premiership teams will continue to represent Wales in the competition, joining the 12 clubs of the Greene King IPA Championship as well as four provincial teams from Ireland. Due to changes in the competition dates, Scottish clubs will not participate in the 2014-15 competition meaning that season’s competition will move from 24 teams to 20, playing in five pools of four.

2014-15 British and Irish Cup structure:

Teams
– 12 Greene King IPA Championship clubs
– 4 Welsh Principality Premiership clubs
– 4 Irish provinces – Connacht, Munster, Leinster ‘A’ and Ulster Ravens

Pool Stages
-Taking place on 11, 18, 25 October, 29 November and 6, 13 December 2014
– 5 pools of 4 playing home and away
– 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 bonus point for a) scoring 4 or more tries and/or b) losing by 7 points or less

Quarter finals
– Taking place on 24 January 2015
– Top side in each pool progress to knockout stage, plus three best runners-up
– 8 quarter-finalists ranked with teams ranked 1-4 having home advantage

Semi-finals and final
– Four winning quarter finalists progress to semi -final draw which takes place on weekend of 13/14/15 March 2015
– Winning semi-finalists progress to final to take place on weekend of 3/4/5 April 2015

Pools
Pool 1: London Scottish, Wales 2, Bristol Rugby, Connacht
Pool 2: Rotherham Titans, Leeds Carnegie, Ulster Ravens, Wales 4
Pool 3: Worcester Warriors, Nottingham Rugby, Moseley, Munster ‘A’
Pool 4: Wales 1, Cornish Pirates, Doncaster Knights, Bedford Blues
Pool 5: Leinster ‘A’, Plymouth Albion, Wales 3, Jersey RFC

British and Irish Cup fixtures

Round 1 – 10/11/12 October
Pool 1
Wales 2 v London Scottish
Bristol Rugby v Connacht

Pool 2
Leeds Carnegie v Rotherham Titans
Wales 4 v Ulster Ravens

Pool 3
Nottingham Rugby v Worcester Warriors
Munster ‘A’ v Moseley

Pool 4
Cornish Pirates v Bedford Blues
Wales 1 v Doncaster Knights

Pool 5
Plymouth Albion v Leinster ‘A’