2021–22 RFU Championship

2021–22 RFU Championship
Countries	England  Jersey
Number of teams	11
Date	17 September 2021 — 2 April 2022
Champions	Ealing Trailfinders
Runners-up	Doncaster Knights
Matches played	110
Attendance	141,606 (average 1,287 per match)
Highest attendance	4,153 – Bedford Blues v Jersey Reds, 26 December 2021
Lowest attendance	321 – Ampthill v Richmond, 19 February 2022
Tries scored	794 (average 7.2 per match)
Top point scorer	150 – James Williams (Hartpury)
Top try scorer	17 – Mark Bright (Richmond) Eoghan Clarke (Jersey Reds)[1]
← 2020–21 2022–23 →

The 2021–22 RFU Championship was the thirteenth season of the RFU Championship, the professional second tier of rugby union in England. It featured 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 played each of the other teams twice. There was no end of season play-off and as no team met the minimum standards criteria, no team was promoted to Premiership Rugby.^[2] For the second consecutive year no team was 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.^[3][4][5] Last season, following news of the funding change, several clubs announced a switch to a semi-professional business model.^[6][7]

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.^[8] London Scottish returned to the league following a one-year hiatus due to the costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.^[9] They intended to leave the Athletic Ground ahead of this season, however it was later confirmed they would remain at the Athletic Ground.^[10][11]

Club	Stadium	Capacity	Area	Previous season
Ampthill	Dillingham Park	3,000	Ampthill, Bedfordshire	7th
Bedford Blues	Goldington Road	5,000 (1,700 seats)[a]	Bedford, Bedfordshire	8th
Cornish Pirates	Mennaye Field	4,000 (2,200 seats)	Penzance, Cornwall	4th
Coventry	Butts Park Arena	4,000 (3,000 seats)	Coventry, West Midlands	5th
Doncaster Knights	Castle Park	5,183[12] (1,650 seats)	Doncaster, South Yorkshire	3rd
Ealing Trailfinders	Trailfinders Sports Ground	4,000 (2,200 seats)	West Ealing, London	1st (runner up)
Hartpury University	ALPAS Arena	2,000	Hartpury, Gloucestershire	9th
Jersey Reds	Stade Santander International	4,000	Saint Peter, Jersey	6th
London Scottish	Athletic Ground	4,500 (1,000 seats)	Richmond, London	N/A
Nottingham	Lady Bay Sports Ground	3,500	Nottingham, Nottinghamshire	10th
Richmond	Athletic Ground	4,500 (1,000 seats)	Richmond, London	11th

Table

2021–22 RFU Championship table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Ealing Trailfinders	20	16	0	4	890	336	+554	15	1	80	Championship winners
2	Doncaster Knights	20	17	0	3	524	322	+202	9	0	77
3	Cornish Pirates	20	14	2	4	521	365	+156	12	1	73
4	Jersey Reds	20	13	1	6	596	436	+160	12	3	69
5	Bedford Blues	20	9	0	11	536	503	+33	10	4	50
6	Ampthill	20	8	2	10	420	511	−91	6	4	46
7	Hartpury	20	7	1	12	524	515	+9	10	6	46
8	Coventry	20	9	0	11	468	582	−114	7	2	45
9	Richmond	20	7	1	12	440	546	−106	7	5	42
10	Nottingham	20	5	0	15	407	690	−283	6	4	30
11	London Scottish	20	1	1	18	326	846	−520	3	2	11

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.

Round 1

^[13]

Bye/s: Bedford Blues

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Round 2

^[14]

Bye/s: Ealing Trailfinders

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Round 3

Bye/s: Jersey Reds

^[15]

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Round 4

Bye/s: Cornish Pirates

^[16]

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Round 5

^[17]

Bye/s: Doncaster Knghts

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Round 6

Bye/s: Nottingham

^[18]

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Round 7

Bye/s: Ampthill

^[19]

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Round 8

Bye/s: Coventry

^[20]

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Round 9

Bye/s: Richmond

^[21]

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Round 10

Bye/s: London Scottish

^[23]

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Round 11

^[24]

Bye/s: Hartpury

Round 12

Bye/s: Bedford Blues

^[26]

Round 13

Bye/s: Ealing Trailfinders

^[29]

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Round 14

Bye/s: Jersey Reds

^[29]

Round 15

Bye/s: Cornish Pirates

^[31]

Round 16

Bye/s: Doncaster Knights

^[32]

Round 17

Bye/s: Nottingham

^[33]

Rounds 10, 12 & 14 (rescheduled matches)

^[34]

Round 18

Bye/s: Ampthill

^[35]

Round 19

^[36]

Bye/s: Coventry

Round 20

Bye/s: Richmond

^[38]

Rounds 13 & 17 (rescheduled matches)

^[38]

Round 21

Bye/s: London Scottish

^[39]

Rescheduled matches

^[40]

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Rescheduled matches

^[41]

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Rescheduled matches

^[1]

Attendances

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Ampthill	10	7,63	764	1,924	321	25%
Bedford Blues	10	25,931	2,593	4,153	1,083	52%
Cornish Pirates	10	16,963	1,696	2,042	1,263	42%
Coventry	10	20,979	2,098	2,534	1,453	52%
Doncaster Knights	10	9,836	984	1,285	703	19%
Ealing Trailfinders	10	10,056	1,006	1,741	800	25%
Hartpury	10	9,902	990	1,503	381	50%
Jersey Reds	10	12,676	1,268	1,803	941	32%
London Scottish	10	7,166	717	1,532	475	16%
Nottingham	10	10,774	1,077	1,288	838	31%
Richmond	10	9,685	969	1,740	530	22%

Leading scorers

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

Notes

References