2016–17 Anglo-Welsh Cup

| highest attendance = 25,849(Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints) | lowest attendance = 1,370(Cardiff v Worcester Warriors) | tries = | top point scorer = Freddie Burns(Leicester Tigers) 64 | top try scorer = Josh Adams(Worcester Warriors) 6 | venue = Twickenham Stoop | attendance2 = | champions = Leicester Tigers | count = 8 | runner-up = Exeter Chiefs | website = | previous year = 2014–15 | previous tournament = 2014–15 LV Cup | next year = 2017–18 | next tournament = 2017–18 Anglo-Welsh Cup

The 2016–17 Anglo-Welsh Cup was the 45th season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the 11th to follow the Anglo-Welsh Cup format. The competition returned after a one-year hiatus due to being dropped due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.

The competition consisted of the four Welsh Pro12 teams and the twelve English Premiership clubs arranged in pools of three English and one Welsh team. English clubs were allocated to the pools depending on their final positions in the 2015–16 Aviva Premiership. Teams played two home and two away pool matches, with teams in Pools 1 and 4 playing each other and teams in Pools 2 and 3 playing each other. The top team from each pool qualified for the semi-finals. The competition took place during the Autumn International window and during the Six Nations.

Saracens were defending champions after claiming the cup with a 23–20 victory over Exeter Chiefs in the 2014–15 final at Franklin's Gardens in Northampton. This was Saracens second title in the competition. The 2016–17 Anglo-Welsh Cup was won by Leicester Tigers who won their eighth cup title by defeating Exeter Chiefs 16–12 in the final held at Twickenham Stoop. Freddie Burns had an excellent tournament for the Tigers, scoring 64 points overall including 11 in the final, to finish as the competition's top point scorer, while Josh Adams was top try scorer with 6 tries from only 2 games for Worcester Warriors.

Teams & locations

Club Coach Captain Stadium Capacity City/Area Bath Todd Blackadder Guy Mercer The Recreation Ground 14,500 Bath, Somerset, England Bristol Andy Robinson Jack Lam Ashton Gate 27,000 Bristol, England Cardiff Blues Danny Wilson Gethin Jenkins BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park 12,125 Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales Exeter Chiefs Rob Baxter Jack Yeandle Sandy Park 12,600 Exeter, Devon, England Gloucester David Humphreys Greig Laidlaw Kingsholm Stadium 16,500 Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England Harlequins John Kingston Danny Care Twickenham Stoop 14,816 Twickenham, Greater London, England Leicester Tigers Richard Cockerill Tom Youngs Welford Road 25,800 Leicester, Leicestershire, England Newcastle Falcons Dean Richards Will Welch Kingston Park 10,200 Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, England Newport Gwent Dragons Kingsley Jones T. Rhys Thomas Rodney Parade 8,500 Newport, Wales Northampton Saints Jim Mallinder Tom Wood Franklin's Gardens 15,500 Northampton, Northamptonshire, England Ospreys Steve Tandy Alun Wyn Jones Liberty StadiumSt. Helen'sBrewery Field 20,8274,5008,000 Swansea, West Glamorgan, WalesSwansea, West Glamorgan, WalesBridgend, Mid Glamorgan, Wales Sale Sharks Steve Diamond Josh Beaumont AJ Bell Stadium 12,000 Salford, Greater Manchester, England Saracens Mark McCall Brad Barritt Allianz Park 10,000 Barnet, Greater London, England Scarlets Wayne Pivac Ken Owens Parc y Scarlets 14,870 Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales Wasps Dai Young Joe Launchbury Ricoh Arena 32,609 Coventry, West Midlands, England Worcester Warriors Carl Hogg Gerrit-Jan van Velze Sixways Stadium 12,024 Worcester, Worcestershire, England

Pool stages Points system The points scoring system for the pool stages will be as follows: 4 points for a win 2 points for a draw 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match (TB) 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less (LB)

Pool 1 v Pool 4 Pool 1TeamPWDLPFPAPDTFTATBLBPts Saracens (1) 4 3 0 1 122 91 31 16 12 4 1 17 Northampton Saints 4 3 0 1 113 66 47 14 7 1 1 14 Newport Gwent Dragons 4 1 0 3 58 105 −47 7 13 1 0 5 Bath Rugby 4 0 1 3 73 98 −25 9 10 0 2 4 Updated: 5 February 2017Source: Premiership Rugby

Pool 4TeamPWDLPFPAPDTFTATBLBPts Leicester Tigers (4) 4 3 0 1 110 72 38 13 10 1 0 13 Gloucester 4 2 1 1 90 81 9 13 8 1 1 12 Newcastle Falcons 4 2 0 2 68 74 −6 6 8 0 0 8 Scarlets 4 1 0 3 92 139 −47 10 20 1 0 5 Updated: 5 February 2017Source: Premiership Rugby

Round 1 (England)

Round 2

Round 1 (Wales)

Round 3

Round 4

Pool 2 v Pool 3 Pool 2TeamPWDLPFPAPDTFTATBLBPts Exeter Chiefs (2) 4 3 0 1 164 66 98 25 9 3 0 15 Ospreys 4 3 0 1 94 58 36 13 8 2 1 15 Sale Sharks 4 3 0 1 82 52 30 11 6 1 0 13 Worcester Warriors 4 2 0 2 116 153 −37 18 22 2 1 11 Updated: 5 February 2017Source: Premiership Rugby

Pool 3TeamPWDLPFPAPDTFTATBLBPts Harlequins (3) 4 3 0 1 82 62 20 10 8 1 1 14 Wasps 4 1 0 3 102 110 −8 16 16 1 1 6 Bristol 4 1 0 3 72 97 −25 9 13 0 2 6 Cardiff Blues 4 0 0 4 73 187 −114 10 30 2 0 2 Updated: 5 February 2017Source: Premiership Rugby

Round 1 (England)

Round 2

Round 1 (Wales)

Round 3

Round 4

Semi-finals

Final

FB 15 Lachlan Turner RW 14 Matt JessOC 13 Max BodillyIC 12 Sam HillLW 11 James ShortFH 10 Joe Simmonds SH 9 Jack MaunderN8 8 Sam SimmondsOF 7 Julian Salvi (c)BF 6 Dave EwersRL 5 Ollie AtkinsLL 4 Damian Welch TP 3 Greg HolmesHK 2 Shaun MaltonLP 1 Carl RimmerReplacements:HK 16 Elvis TaionePR 17 Billy KeastPR 18 Jack OwlettFL 19 Sam SkinnerN8 20 Tom JohnsonSH 21 Haydn ThomasFH 22 Will HooleyCE 23 Tom HendricksonCoach: Rob Baxter FB 15 George WorthRW 14 Peter BethamOC 13 Mathew Tait (c)IC 12 Jack RobertsLW 11 Tom BradyFH 10 Freddie Burns SH 9 Jono KittoN8 8 Lachlan McCaffreyOF 7 Harry ThackerBF 6 Mike WilliamsRL 5 Graham KitchenerLL 4 Harry WellsTP 3 Fraser Balmain HK 2 George McGuiganLP 1 Ellis GengeReplacements:HK 16 Tom YoungsPR 17 Michele RizzoPR 18 Greg BatemanLK 19 Dominic BarrowFL 20 Luke HamiltonSH 21 Ben WhiteFH 22 Owen WilliamsCE 23 Matt Smith Coach: Aaron Mauger

Attendances Attendances do not include the final at Twickenham Stoop.

ClubHomegamesTotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity Bath 2 26,403 13,202 13,723 12,680 91% Bristol 2 16,225 8,113 8,875 7,350 30% Cardiff Blues 2 5,464 2,732 4,094 1,370 23% Exeter Chiefs 3 29,565 9,855 10,551 9,419 78% Gloucester 2 19,970 9,985 11,660 8,310 62% Harlequins 2 14,932 7,466 8,000 6,932 50% Leicester Tigers 2 44,599 22,300 25,849 18,750 86% Newcastle Falcons 2 8,241 4,121 4,257 3,984 40% Newport-Gwent Dragons 2 7,285 3,643 3,746 3,539 43% Northampton Saints 2 27,188 13,594 14,011 13,177 88% Ospreys 2 6,479 3,240 3,352 3,127 56% Sale Sharks 2 10,166 5,083 6,668 3,498 42% Saracens 3 21,288 7,096 8,734 4,747 71% Scarlets 2 7,334 3,667 3,796 3,538 25% Wasps 2 23,416 11,708 12,007 11,409 36% Worcester Warriors 2 13,445 6,723 7,114 6,331 56%

Individual statistics Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Appearance figures also include coming on as substitutes (unused substitutes not included).

Top points scorers Rank Player Team Points 1 Freddie Burns Leicester Tigers 5 64 2 Joe Simmonds Exeter Chiefs 6 43 3 Tom Whiteley Saracens 4 39 4 Sam Olver Northampton Saints 3 33 5 Dan Jones Scarlets 2 30 Josh Adams Worcester Warriors 3 30 6 Luke Price Ospreys 3 28 7 Billy Searle Bristol 3 22 8 Michele Campagnaro Exeter Chiefs 2 20 Ryan Mills Worcester Warriors 2 20

Top try scorers Rank Player Team Tries 1 Josh Adams Worcester Warriors 3 6 2 Michele Campagnaro Exeter Chiefs 2 4 Shaun Malton Exeter Chiefs 6 4 3 Wynand Olivier Worcester Warriors 2 3 Jacob Umaga Wasps 3 3 4 Luke Hamilton Leicester Tigers 4 3 Brendan Macken Wasps 4 3 5 Nick Tompkins Saracens 5 3 Tom Whiteley Saracens 5 3

Season records

Team Largest home win — 52 points 62-10 Wasps at home to Worcester Warriors on 13 November 2016 Largest away win — 24 points 31-6 Ospreys away to Cardiff Blues on 18 November 2016 Most points scored — 62 points (x2) 62-25 Exeter Chiefs at home to Cardiff Blues on 13 November 2016 62-10 Wasps at home to Worcester Warriors on 13 November 2016 Most tries in a match — 10 (x2) Exeter Chiefs at home to Cardiff Blues on 13 November 2016 Wasps at home to Worcester Warriors on 13 November 2016 Most conversions in a match — 6 (x3) Exeter Chiefs at home to Cardiff Blues on 13 November 2016 Wasps at home to Worcester Warriors on 13 November 2016 Exeter Chiefs at home to Wasps on 28 January 2017 Most penalties in a match — 4 (x2) Harlequins at home to Exeter Chiefs on 5 November 2016 Northampton Saints away to Newcastle Falcons on 6 November 2016 Bath at home to Gloucester on 27 January 2017 Most drop goals in a match — 1 Northampton Saints away to Newcastle Falcons on 6 November 2016

Player Most points in a match — 17 Joe Simmonds for Exeter Chiefs at home to Cardiff Blues on 13 November 2016 Most tries in a match — 3 Michele Campagnaro for Exeter Chiefs at home to Wasps on 28 January 2017 Most conversions in a match — 6 (x2) Joe Simmonds for Exeter Chiefs at home to Cardiff Blues on 13 November 2016 Joe Simmonds for Exeter Chiefs at home to Wasps on 28 January 2017 Most penalties in a match — 4 (x3) Nick Evans for Harlequins at home to Exeter Chiefs on 5 November 2016 Sam Olver for Northampton Saints away to Newcastle Falcons on 6 November 2016 Rhys Priestland for Bath at home to Gloucester on 27 January 2017 Most drop goals in a match — 1 Sam Olver for Northampton Saints away to Newcastle Falcons on 6 November 2016

Attendances Highest — 25,849 Leicester Tigers at home to Northampton Saints on 28 January 2017 Lowest — 1,370 Cardiff Blues at home to Worcester Warriors on 4 February 2017 Highest Average Attendance — 22,300 Leicester Tigers Lowest Average Attendance — 2,732 Cardiff Blues

References