Divisional Championship (rugby union)

Rugby union competition in England

Divisional ChampionshipSport| Rugby union

|

Founded| 1977
Ceased| 1995
Owner(s)| Rugby Football Union
No. of teams| 4
Country| England
Most titles| North (5)

The Divisional Championship was an annual rugby union competition in England that ran over two separate periods between the late 1970s to the mid 1990s, contested by representative teams from four geographical regions of England.

Originally launched at a time when there was no formalised league structure for club matches in England, the competition was devised to allow players to gain experience of representative rugby, and concentrate the country's strongest players into a single competitive tournament below international level, thereby providing a better basis for selecting a successful England team.[1]

The first version of the championship began during the 1977/78 season, with a brief hiatus in the early 1980s, before it returned in a slightly altered format for the 1985/86 season. The championship ended for a second time during the 1995/96 season as the professional era of rugby union began. All matches were generally played in the December of each season, to prepare players ahead of the start of the Five Nations Championship in the new year.[1][2][3][4]

## History

[edit]

### 1977-1980

[edit]

The president of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) during the 1976/77 season, former England scrum-half and captain Dickie Jeeps, organised a series of meetings with club and county administrators and persuaded them that a divisional championship involving the country's best players would present a high standard of play to assist selectors in choosing a successful international team.

The inaugural tournament took place a year later during the 1977/78 season. The country was divided into four representative areas, North, Midlands, London, and South & South-West, which had previously formed as teams to play mostly against international touring sides, and each division had a national selector acting as chairman of their respective selection committee.[1]

In the championship's first final, held on 17 December 1977 at Twickenham, the North beat the Midlands 22-7, while earlier in the day London beat the South & South-West 22-15 in the play-off for third and fourth place.[5] But the championship was short-lived, because in the following two seasons the tournament was cancelled owing to the demands of fixtures against touring teams and only revived again, briefly, for the 1980/81 season before the RFU decided to abolish the concept altogether and return to the traditional 'club, county, country' line of progression.[2]

### 1985-1995

[edit]

In the early 1980s, the RFU instructed its Playing Sub-Committee to produce a report called 'Proposed New Playing Structure to Improve Quality of Play at Representative Level'. It became better known as the Burgess Report after its lead creator, John Burgess, the former Lancashire, North and England coach, and (later) RFU president. The report identified the lack of serious competition as the cause of the England team's underachievement.[6] One of its key recommendations was to re-introduce the concept of a Divisional Championship, but with each division playing each other in a round-robin system to decide the winner.

So, after a break of four seasons, the Divisional Championship returned in December of the 1985/86 season and was won for the first time by the Midlands, who claimed victories in all three of their matches.[7]

In late 1995, chairman of the RFU's competitions committee, John Jeavons-Fellows, helped create an RFU report that called for the abolition of the Divisional Championship, and on 18 December 1995 the RFU formally announced the end of the tournament with divisional rugby to continue in the form of matches against international touring teams, as it had done prior to the championship's inauguration.

## Structure

[edit]

The original structure of the competition that covered the 1977/78 and 1980/81 seasons had the four divisions first meet in semi-finals, then a final and a play-off for third and fourth place. During the first season of the competition in 1977, sub-divisional trial matches within the four divisions were also held, and preceded the semi-final stage.[1] During its second inception, beginning in the 1985/86 season, the competition adopted a round-robin format where each divisional team played the other three over successive weekends in November/December, with the team achieving the best record named champion.

## Past winners

[edit]

### 1977-1980

[edit]

Year  | Winner  | Runner-up  | Third  | Fourth

|
|
|
|

1977 | North | Midlands  | London  | South & South-West
1978  | Tournament not held because of the 1978 New Zealand tour [8]
1979  | Tournament not held because of the 1979 New Zealand tour [2]
1980 | North | Midlands  | London  | South & South-West

### 1985-1995

[edit]

Year  | Winner  | Runner-up  | Third  | Fourth

|
|
|
|

1985 | Midlands | London  | North  | South & South-West
1986 | North | South & South-West  | Midlands  | London
1987  | North | Midlands  | South & South-West  | London
1988  | London | North  | South & South-West  | Midlands
1989  | London | North  | South & South-West  | Midlands
1990  | London | Midlands  | South & South-West  | North
1991  | Midlands | North  | London  | South & South-West
1992  | South & South-West | Midlands  | London  | North
1993  | South & South-West | London  | Midlands  | North
1994  | Midlands | London  | North  | South & South-West
1995  | North | Midlands  | South & South-West  | London

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Jenkins, Vivian (Editor). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1978-79. Macdonald and Jane's, Queen Anne Press. pp 115. ISBN 0354-09047-X.
2. ^ a b c Jenkins, Vivian (Editor). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1981-82. Rothmans Publications Ltd. pp 130. ISBN 0 907574 05 X.
3. ^ "North show little solemnity at funeral". The Independent, 11 December 1995. 11 December 1995. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
4. ^ "Club game shoulders the blame". The Independent, 19 December 1995. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
5. ^ "A trip down memory lane courtesy of historian John Griffiths". ESPN. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
6. ^ Toffoletti, Kim (Editor), Mewett, Peter (Editor). Sport and Its Female Fans (2012). Routledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society. pp 84. ISBN 0415883814.
7. ^ Jones, Stephen (Editor). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1986-87. Queen Anne Press. pp 138. ISBN 0 356 12361 8.
8. ^ Jenkins, Vivian (Editor). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1979-80. Macdonald and Jane's, Queen Anne Press. pp 104. ISBN 0354-09087-9.

* v
* t
* e

Divisional Championship (rugby union) seasons

* 1977–78
* 1980–81
* 1985–86
* 1986–87
* 1987–88
* 1988–89
* 1989–90
* 1990–91
* 1991–92
* 1992–93
* 1993–94
* 1994–95
* 1995–96

* v
* t
* e

Rugby union in England

Governing body|

* Rugby Football Union
* Rugby Football Union for Women (merged into the RFU)

National teams|

| Men's|

* England
* England A
* 7's
* U-21
* U-20
* U-18
* British & Irish Lions
* England Counties XV

|

Women's|

* Women's
* 7's

International competitions|

| Men's|

* World Cup
* Six Nations
* Rugby World Cup Sevens
* Sevens World Series
* Sevens Grand Prix Series
* Commonwealth Games

|

Women's|

* World Cup
* Six Nations
* World Series Sevens

Competition divisions|

| Men's|

* Premiership
* Championship
* National Leagues
* London and SE Division
* Northern Division
* Midland Division
* South West Division
* United Hospitals Cup

|

Women's|

* Premiership Women's Rugby

European competitions|

* European Rugby Champions Cup
* European Rugby Challenge Cup

National competitions|

* Premiership Rugby
* Premiership Cup
* RFU Championship
* Championship Cup
* National League 1
* National League 2 East
* National League 2 North
* National League 2 West
* RFU Intermediate Cup
* RFU Senior Vase
* RFU Junior Vase
* Premiership Rugby Sevens Series
* Women's Premiership
* Premier 15s

London and South East
competitions|

* Regional 1 South East
* Regional 1 South Central
* Regional 2 Anglia
* Regional 2 South Central
* Regional 2 South East
* Regional 2 Thames
* London 1 North
* London 2 North East
* London 2 North West
* London 2 South East
* London 2 South West
* London 3 North West
* London 3 South East
* London 3 South West
* Counties 2 Eastern Counties
* London 3 Essex
* Eastern Counties 1
* Eastern Counties 2
* Eastern Counties 3
* Counties 2 Essex
* Counties 2 Hampshire
* Counties 3 Hampshire
* Counties 4 Hampshire
* Hampshire Cups
* Counties 1 Herts/Middlesex
* Herts/Middlesex 2
* Hertfordshire Cups
* Middlesex Cups
* Counties 3 Kent
* Counties 4 Kent
* Counties 5 Kent
* Kent Cups
* Counties 1 Surrey/Sussex
* Counties 2 Surrey
* Counties 3 Surrey
* Counties 4 Surrey
* Counties 5 Surrey
* Surrey Cups
* Counties 2 Sussex
* Sussex 1
* Sussex Cups

Midland competitions|

* Regional 1 Midlands
* Regional 2 North Midlands
* Regional 2 West Midlands
* Regional 2 East Midlands
* Counties 1 Midlands West (North)
* Counties 1 Midlands West (South)
* Midlands 2 East (North)
* Midlands 2 East (South)
* Midlands 3 West (North)
* Midlands 3 West (South)
* Midlands 3 East (North)
* Midlands 3 East (South)
* Midlands 4 West (North)
* Midlands 4 West (South)
* Midlands 4 East (North)
* Midlands 4 East (South)
* Midlands 5 West (South)
* Leicestershire Cups
* North Midlands Cups
* Staffordshire Cups
* Warwickshire Cups

Northern competitions|

* Regional 1 North East
* Regional 1 North West
* Regional 2 North
* Regional 2 North East
* Regional 2 North West
* North 1 East
* North 1 West
* North 2 West
* Counties 1 ADM Lancashire & Cheshire
* Lancs/Cheshire 1
* Lancs/Cheshire 2
* Cheshire Cups
* Lancashire Cups
* Counties 1 Cumbria
* Cumbria Cups
* Counties 1 Durham & Northumberland
* Counties 2 Durham & Northumberland
* Counties 3 Durham & Northumberland
* Durham Cups
* Northumberland Cups
* Counties 1 Yorkshire
* Counties 2 Yorkshire
* Counties 3 Yorkshire
* Counties 4 Yorkshire
* Yorkshire Cups

South West competitions|

* Regional 1 South West
* Regional 2 Severn
* Regional 2 South West
* Counties 1 Southern North
* Counties 1 Southern South
* Counties 1 Western North
* Counties 1 Western West
* Counties 2 Cornwall
* Counties 3 Cornwall
* Cornwall Cups
* Counties 2 Devon
* Counties 3 Devon East
* Counties 3 Devon West
* Devon Cups
* Counties 2 Gloucestershire
* Counties 3 Gloucestershire
* Gloucester 2 North
* Gloucester 2 South
* Gloucestershire Cups
* Counties 2 Somerset
* Counties 3 Somerset
* Counties 4 Somerset North
* Counties 4 Somerset South
* Somerset 3 North
* Somerset 3 South
* Somerset Cups
* Counties 2 Berks/Bucks & Oxon
* Counties 3 Berks/Bucks & Oxon
* Counties 4 Berks/Bucks & Oxon
* Oxfordshire Cups
* Counties 2 Dorset & Wilts South
* Counties 2 Dorset & Wilts North
* Counties 3 Dorset & Wilts North
* Counties 3 Dorset & Wilts South
* Dorset & Wilts 3 North

County competitions|

* Division 1
* Division 2
* Division 3

Discontinued competitions|

* Anglo-Welsh Cup
* Cornwall/Devon League
* Divisional Championship
* National League 2 South
* North Premier
* RFU Knockout Cup
* South West 1 East

Related articles|

* International players
* Clubs
* Churchill Cup
* Calcutta Cup
* Millennium Trophy
* Ella-Mobbs Trophy
* Hillary Shield

Other|

* English rugby union system
* Timeline of rugby union on UK television

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