Scottish Premiership (rugby union)
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Sport | Rugby union |
---|---|
Founded | 1973 |
No. of teams | 10 |
Country | Scotland |
Most recent champion(s) | Hawick (13th title) |
Most titles | Hawick (13 titles) |
Level on pyramid | 1 |
Relegation to | National League Division One |
Domestic cup(s) | Scottish Cup |
Official website | http://www.scottishrugby.org/ |
The Scottish Premiership (referred to as the Tennents Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is the highest level of amateur league competition for Scottish rugby union clubs. First held in 1973, it is the top division of the Scottish League Championship. The most recent (2023) champions are Hawick who are also the most successful club who have won the competition thirteen times.
Ten clubs contest the league, with the bottom club relegated to the Scottish National League Division One and second-bottom club involved in a play-off.
The top level of club rugby in Scotland are the two professional teams –
History
Up to season 1972–73, Scotland's rugby union clubs participated in what was known as the Scottish Unofficial Championship. It provided very unbalanced competition: some clubs played more fixtures than others and some fixture lists provided stiffer opposition than others. The resulting league table at the end of each season gave a very unbalanced and difficult-to-comprehend set of results.
Starting in season 1973–74, the Scottish Rugby Union organised the full member clubs into six leagues. This suited some of the 'open' clubs but many of the older former pupils clubs found it difficult to compete successfully and were forced into going 'open' themselves to try to recruit some of the better players. Those that didn't declined. Open clubs kept their old FP or Academical name, and still played on grounds owned by the schools. In the first 14 seasons of league rugby the Division I championship was won by Hawick on ten occasions.
One consequence was soon apparent: fewer players were selected from English clubs to represent Scotland. For the first time since before the
Since the advent of the leagues, the Scottish Rugby Union and its member clubs have re-organised the competition several times, usually to change the number of teams.
The top Scottish clubs qualified to the British and Irish Cup from 2009 to 2014.
Competition format
Each of the 10 clubs play each other at home and away between August and January, resulting in 18 games played by each club. Four points are awarded for a win, two for a draw and zero for a loss. Bonus points are also on offer in each game – one for scoring four or more tries and the other for the losing club finishing within seven points of the winning club.[2]
Play-off
From season 2014–15 an end of season play-off was introduced for the top four clubs in the table. These clubs take part in a knock-out competition, with first playing third and second playing fourth in a semi-final match at the home venue of the highest finishing clubs. The winners then face each other in the final to determine the Premiership champion.
Promotion and Relegation
The 10th-placed club is relegated to
2022-23 Clubs
Relegated to National 1
- Glasgow Hutchesons Aloysians (10th)
Promoted from National 1
Team | Stadium | Capacity | City/Area |
---|---|---|---|
Heriot’s
|
Goldenacre Sports Ground | 3,000 | Edinburgh |
Currie | Malleny Park | 2,000 | Balerno, Edinburgh |
Edinburgh Academicals | Raeburn Place | 5,000 | Edinburgh |
Glasgow Hawks | Balgray | 3,000 | Glasgow |
Hawick | Mansfield Park | 5,000 | Hawick, Scottish Borders |
Jed-Forest | Riverside Park
|
3,500 | Jedburgh, Scottish Borders |
Kelso | Poynder Park | 3,000 | Kelso, Scottish Borders |
Marr | Fullerton Park | 4,000 | Troon, Ayrshire |
Musselburgh | Stoneyhill | 3,000 | Musselburgh, East Lothian |
Selkirk | Philiphaugh Stadium | 6,000 | Selkirk, Scottish Borders |
Past winners
- Hawick
- Hawick
- Hawick
- Hawick
- Hawick
- Heriot's
- Gala
- Gala
- Hawick
- Gala
- Hawick
- Hawick
- Hawick
- Hawick
- Kelso
- Kelso
- Melrose
- Boroughmuir
- Melrose
- Melrose
- Melrose
- Stirling County
- Melrose
- Melrose
- Watsonians
- Heriot's
- Heriot's
- Hawick
- Hawick
- Boroughmuir
- Glasgow Hawks
- Glasgow Hawks
- Glasgow Hawks
- Currie
- Boroughmuir
- Ayr
- Currie
- Melrose
- Melrose
- Ayr
- Melrose
- Heriot's
- Heriot's
- Ayr
- Melrose
- Ayr
- Season Null and Void
- Cancelled
- Marr
- Hawick
References
- ^ "Tennent's Premiership pro player draft for 2018-19 season unveiled". 22 August 2018.
- ^ "NATIONAL COMPETITION RULES 2015 – 2016 (the "Rules")" (PDF). Retrieved 20 August 2015.