BUCS Super Rugby

Top division of men's university rugby in Britain

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BUCS Super Rugby

Sport| Rugby union
First season| 2016-17
Administrator| British Universities and Colleges Sport
No. of teams| 10
Country| Great Britain
Most recent
champion(s)| Loughborough University
(2023-24 National Champions)[1]
University of Exeter
(2023-24 League Champions)[2]
Most titles| Hartpury University BUCS - 3 National Championships
Level on pyramid| 1
Relegation to| North A or South A
Official website| www.bucs.org.uk/premier-sports/super-rugby.html

BUCS Super Rugby is the highest level of men's university rugby in Britain and a potential pathway for university players into elite rugby.[3] It comprises ten teams from universities in England and Wales. The league is named for its governing body, British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS).

## History

[edit]

BUCS Super Rugby was launched in 2016 as a new, top level of university rugby above the existing North A and South A leagues.

The eight teams in the inaugural 2016–17 season were those who finished in the top four of the North A and South A leagues in the preceding 2015–16 season.

The league expanded to nine teams in the 2017–18 season and ten teams in the 2018–19 season.

## Current clubs

[edit]

| Club  | University  | First season in league  | Total number of seasons in league*

|
|
|

Bath  | University of Bath | 2016-17  | 7
Cardiff  | Cardiff University | 2018-19  | 5
Cardiff Met | Cardiff Metropolitan University | 2016-17  | 7
Durham | Durham University | 2016-17  | 7
Exeter | University of Exeter | 2016-17  | 7
Hartpury**  | Hartpury University | 2016-17  | 7
Leeds Beckett  | Leeds Beckett University | 2016-17  | 7
Loughborough | Loughborough University | 2016-17  | 7
Nottingham  | University of Nottingham | 2022-23  | 2
Swansea | Swansea University | 2019-20  | 4

* Excludes the 2020-21 season, which was cancelled due to Covid-19.

** Not to be confused with Hartpury University R.F.C., who play in the RFU Championship.

University of Bath

Durham University

University of Exeter

Hartpury University

Leeds Beckett University

Loughborough University

University of Nottingham

Swansea University

Cardiff

Teams in Cardiff
Cardiff University
Cardiff Metropolitan University

class=notpageimage|

Locations of BUCS Super Rugby teams

Cardiff University

Cardiff Metropolitan University

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Locations of BUCS Super Rugby teams in Cardiff

## Season structure

[edit]

The season has three phases:

* League \- a double round-robin tournament, where teams play each other home and away.
* Championship \- a knockout tournament featuring the top eight teams from the League.
* Playoff \- a knockout tournament featuring the team at the bottom of the League and the teams at the top of North A and South A leagues. The Playoff determines whether relegation and promotion occur.

### League

[edit]

The League season currently has 18 rounds and typically runs from September to March. League points are awarded in the following way:

* 4 points for winning a match
* 2 points for drawing a match
* 0 points for losing a match
* 1 losing bonus point for losing by 7 points (or less)
* 1 try bonus point for scoring (at least) 4 tries, regardless of the outcome.

In this points system winning teams get 4 or 5 points, drawing teams 2 or 3 points, and losing teams between 0 and 2 points.

### Championship

[edit]

The Championship competition has three rounds and typically takes place in April. It features the teams who finished in the top eight of the league.

### Playoff

[edit]

The team that finishes last in the league is not automatically relegated. Relegation from (and promotion to) BUCS Super Rugby is decided through a playoff in the format of a three-team, single-elimination tournament.

The playoff begins with a semi-final between the winners of the North A and South A leagues. The bottom placed BUCS Super Rugby team has a bye directly into the playoff game. The winner of the playoff game is the team that plays in the next season of BUCS Super Rugby.

| North vs South Playoff | | | BUCS Super Rugby Playoff |

|
|
|
|
|

| | | | | | | | |
| | | |  | Bottom placed team in BUCS Super Rugby |  |
|  | North A champions |  | | |  | Winner of North vs South Playoff |  |
|  | South A champions |  | | | |

## Results

[edit]

### League and Championship

[edit]

Final position  | Season  | Season  | Season  | Season  | Season  | Season  | Season

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

2016-17  | 2017-18  | 2018-19  | 2019-20*  | 2021-22  | 2022-23  | 2023-24
1  | Hartpury (CH) | Exeter  | Exeter (SF) | Durham  | Durham (RU) | Loughborough (RU) | Exeter (RU)
2  | Exeter (RU) | Northumbria  | Hartpury (CH) | Exeter  | Exeter (CH) | Exeter (CH) | Loughborough (CH)
3  | Loughborough (SF) | Cardiff Met (RU) | Bath (SF) | Leeds Beckett  | Cardiff Met (SF) | Durham  | Hartbury (SF)
4  | Durham  | Leeds Beckett (SF) | Cardiff Met  | Cardiff Met  | Loughborough (SF) | Bath (SF) | Durham
5  | Bath (SF) | Hartpury (CH) | Leeds Beckett (RU) | Hartpury  | Swansea  | Hartpury  | Bath (SF)
6  | Northumbria  | Loughborough  | Northumbria  | Loughborough  | Cardiff  | Cardiff (SF) | Cardiff Met
7  | Cardiff Met  | Bath (SF) | Durham  | Swansea  | Hartpury  | Cardiff Met  | Leeds Beckett
8  | Leeds Beckett  | Durham  | Cardiff  | Bath  | Leeds Beckett  | Nottingham  | Nottingham
9  | \-  | Nottingham Trent  | Loughborough  | Cardiff  | Bath  | Swansea  | Cardiff
10  | \-  | \-  | Nottingham Trent (R)  | Northumbria  | Northumbria (R)  | Leeds Beckett  | Swansea

Green background (rows 1 to 8) are teams that progressed to the Championship tournament.
Red background is a team that was relegated after losing a playoff to a North A / South A team.
(CH) Champions. (RU) Runners-up. (SF) Losing semi-finalists. (R) Relegated
* No Championship tournament was held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

### Promotion and relegation

[edit]

| Season  | Club promoted at start of season  | Promoted from  | Club relegated at end of season  | Relegated to

|
|
|
|

2022-23  | Nottingham  | BUCS North A  | None  | N/A
2021-22  | None  | N/A  | Northumbria  | BUCS North A
2020-21  | Season cancelled[4] due to COVID-19
2019-20  | Swansea  | BUCS South A  | None  | N/A
2018-19  | Cardiff  | BUCS South A  | Nottingham Trent  | BUCS North A
2017-18  | Nottingham Trent  | BUCS North A  | None  | N/A

## Alumni with international caps

[edit]

Inclusion criteria: Played in a senior international test after playing in BUCS Super Rugby

| Player  | Year of first international cap  | University  | Year of last BUCS Super Rugby appearance

|
|
|

Alex Dombrandt | 2021[5] | Cardiff Metropolitan University | 2018
Thibaud Flament | 2021[6] | Loughborough University | 2019
Freddie Steward | 2021[7] | Loughborough University | 2019[8]
Dan Kelly | 2021  | Loughborough University | 2020
Sebastian Negri | 2016  | Hartpury College | 2017
Harry Randall | 2021  | Hartpury College | 2018
Sam Skinner | 2018  | University of Exeter | 2016
Ben Thomas | 2021  | Cardiff University | 2018
Christ Tshiunza | 2021 [9] | University of Exeter | 2021 [10]
Stephen Varney | 2020  | Hartpury College | 2019
Ross Vintcent | 2024 [11] | University of Exeter | 2023 [12]
Dafydd Jenkins | 2022 [13] | University of Exeter | 2022 [14]

## Place in the BUCS Rugby Union pyramid

[edit]

BUCS Super Rugby is the top division of men's university rugby in Britain. It sits in the Premier tier of the BUCS Rugby Union pyramid, along with North A, North B, South A and South B.

Premier  | BUCS Super Rugby

|

North A  | South A
North B  | South B
Tier 1  | Scottish 1A  | Northern 1A  | Midlands 1A  | Western 1A  | South Eastern 1A
Tier 2  | Scottish 2A  | Northern 2A  | Northern 2B  | Midlands 2A  | Midlands 2B  | Western 2A  | Western 2B  | South Eastern 2A  | South Eastern 2B
Tier 3  | Scottish 3A  | Northern 3A  | Northern 3B  | Midlands 3A  | Midlands 3B  | Western 3A  | Western 3B  | South Eastern 3A  | South Eastern 3B
Tier 4  | Scottish 4A  | Northern 4A  | Northern 4B  | Midlands 4A  | Midlands 4B  | Western 4A  | Western 4B  | South Eastern 4A  | South Eastern 4C  | South Eastern 4B
Tier 5  |  | Northern 5A  | Northern 5B  | Midlands 5A  | Western 5A  | South Eastern 5A  | South Eastern 5B
Tier 6  |  | South Eastern 6A

## Media coverage

[edit]

Some BUCS Super Rugby matches are streamed live on the BUCS Sport YouTube channel. In the 2018-19 season some matches were broadcast on FreeSports.

## See also

[edit]

* Rugby union in England
* Rugby union in Wales
* British Universities and Colleges Sport
* Varsity Rugby

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Sensational season finale at the StoneX". Retrieved 14 May 2024.
2. ^ "BUCS BSR League Table". BUCS Super Rugby. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
3. ^ "RFU". England Rugby. Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
4. ^ "BUCS Super Rugby 2020/21 season cancelled due to unpredictable coronavirus pandemic".
5. ^ "Radwan hat-trick as England crush Canada". BBC Sport.
6. ^ Alderman, Elgan. "Thibaud Flament: From Loughborough University fifths to debut for France".
7. ^ Bobby Bridge (5 July 2021). "Freddie Steward's England debut - how the national media rated the Leicester Tigers ace". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
8. ^ Harvey, Joe. "326 34 Google +0 275 0 "You could tell quickly that he was destined for big things" - Freddie Steward, England's rising star". Talking Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
9. ^ "Chiefs youngster makes Test debut".
10. ^ "A glimpse into the rise of athletic Christ Tshiunza".
11. ^ "Ireland v Italy Rugby Fixtures". Six Nations. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
12. ^ "Ross Vintcent University of Exeter EURFC Profile". University of Exeter. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
13. ^ "Wales Rugby Union Squad vs Georgia 2022". 15 November 2022.
14. ^ "Dafydd Jenkins EURFC Profile".