The 2021–22 Premiership Rugby Cup is the 49th season of England's national rugby union cup competition and the third under the new Premiership Rugby Cup format following the disbanding of the Anglo-Welsh Cup at the end of the 2017–18 season due to the withdrawal of the Welsh Pro14 regions. Although there are no stipulations on player selection, the cup will be seen by many clubs as a development competition, and games will take place during the Autumn internationals and during the Six Nations.

The competition returns after a one-year hiatus due to cancellation of the 2020–21 competition. Sale Sharks enter the competition as reigning champions, becoming the second winners of the Premiership Cup when they defeated Harlequins 27–19 at the AJ Bell Stadium in the 2019–20 final.

Competition format The competition consists of the thirteen Premiership Rugby teams arranged in three pools. Pool 1 will consist of five teams whilst pools B and C will consist of four. Each team will play each team in their pool once only and, in the case of pools 2 and 3, also play an additional inter pool match. There will be five rounds of matches meaning each team will receive one bye. The top team in each pool, plus the best overall runner-up, will progress to the semi-finals, with the highest ranked teams having home advantage. The winners of the semi-finals will then meet at the final in May 2022 to be held at the home ground of the highest ranked remaining team.

Teams

Club Director of Rugby/Head Coach Captain Kit supplier Stadium Capacity City/Area Bath Macron The Recreation Ground 14,509 Bath Bristol Bears Umbro Ashton Gate 27,000 Bristol Exeter Chiefs Samurai Sportswear Sandy Park 13,593 Exeter Gloucester Oxen Sports Kingsholm Stadium 16,115 Gloucester Harlequins Adidas Twickenham Stoop 14,800 Twickenham, Greater London Leicester Tigers Samurai Sportswear Mattioli Woods Welford Road 25,849 Leicester London Irish BLK Brentford Community Stadium 17,250 Brentford, Greater London Newcastle Falcons Macron Kingston Park 10,200 Newcastle upon Tyne Northampton Saints Macron cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens 15,200 Northampton Sale Sharks Macron AJ Bell Stadium 12,000 Salford, Greater Manchester Saracens Castore StoneX Stadium 8,500 Hendon,Greater London Wasps Hummel Coventry Building Society Arena 32,609 Coventry Worcester Warriors O'Neills Sixways Stadium 11,499 Worcester

Pools

Pool 1 Pool 1ClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints forPoints againstPoints differenceTries forTries againstTry bonusLosing bonusPoints 1 Gloucester 4 3 0 1 180 71 +109 23 10 2 1 16 2 Worcester Warriors 4 3 0 1 137 72 65 +19 11 3 1 16 3 Exeter Chiefs 4 2 0 2 105 107 −2 11 15 2 1 11* 4 Bristol Bears 4 2 0 2 122 157 -35 18 19 2 0 10 5 Bath 4 0 0 4 36 173 −137 5 21 0 1 1*If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Total number of tries scored Green background means the club has qualified for the semi-finals as pool winner.Blue background means the club has qualified for the semi-finals as the best pool runner-up. Updated: 14 November 2021Note that each team plays 4 games. Cancelled fixture: Bath 0 points; Exeter 5 points

Pool 2 Pool 2ClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints forPoints againstPoints differenceTries forTries againstTry bonusLosing bonusPoints 1 Leicester Tigers 4 3 0 1 156 92 +64 20 14 3 0 15 2 Newcastle Falcons 4 2 0 2 116 114 +2 15 10 2 1 11 3 Wasps 4 2 0 2 115 136 −21 17 21 2 1 11 4 Sale Sharks 4 2 0 2 108 122 −14 16 17 2 0 5*If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Total number of tries scored Green background means the club has qualified for the semi-finals as pool winner.Blue background means the club has qualified for the semi-finals as the best pool runner-up. Updated: 14 November 2021Note that each team plays 4 games; 3 pool games plus a derby game against a team in another pool. Sale Sharks were deducted 5 points for fielding an ineligible player

Pool 3 Pool 3ClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints forPoints againstPoints differenceTries forTries againstTry bonusLosing bonusPoints 1 London Irish 4 3 0 1 125 106 +19 18 16 4 0 16 2 Northampton Saints 4 2 0 2 131 123 +8 19 18 3 1 12 3 Harlequins 4 1 0 2 95 121 −26 15 18 2 2 8 4 Saracens 4 1 0 2 104 136 -32 15 20 2 0 6If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Total number of tries scored Green background means the club has qualified for the semi-finals as pool winner.Blue background means the club has qualified for the semi-finals as the best pool runner-up. Updated: 14 November 2021Note that each team plays 4 games; 3 pool games plus a derby game against a team in another pool.

Fixtures

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Semi-final

Final

FB15 Henry ArundellRW14 Lucio CintiOC13 Will JosephIC12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg LW11 Ollie Hassell-CollinsFH10 Paddy JacksonSH9 Ben WhiteN88 Albert TuisueOF7 Juan Martín GonzálezBF6 Matt Rogerson (c)RL5 Rob SimmonsLL4 Chunya MungaTP3 Marcel van der MerweHK2 Mike WillemseLP1 Facundo GigenaSubstitutions:HK16 Matt CornishPR17 Will Goodrick-ClarkePR18 Ciaran ParkerLK19 Steven MafiFL20 Ben DonnellSH21 Caolan EnglefieldCE22 Curtis RonaWG23 Ben LoaderCoach: Declan KidneyFB15 Jamie ShillcockRW14 Perry HumphreysOC13 Francois VenterIC12 Ashley BeckLW11 Duhan van der MerweFH10 Fin SmithSH9 Gareth SimpsonN88 Ted Hill (c)OF7 Matt KvesicBF6 Kyle HatherellRL5 Graham KitchenerLL4 Joe BatleyTP3 Christian JudgeHK2 Niall Annett LP1 Ethan WallerSubstitutions:HK16 Isaac MillerPR17 Rory SutherlandPR18 Murray McCallumLK19 Andrew KitchenerFL20 Sam LewisSH21 Will ChudleyFH22 Ollie LawrenceCE23 Alex HearleCoach: Steve Diamond Worcester were crowned champions due to having scored more tries than London Irish during the match

See also Premiership Rugby Anglo-Welsh Cup 2021–22 RFU Championship Cup English rugby union system List of English rugby union teams Rugby union in England

Notes

References