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2022–23 Premiership Rugby

The 2022–23 Premiership Rugby was the 36th season of the top flight of English domestic rugby union competition and the fifth to be sponsored by Gallagher.[1] The competition was broadcast by BT Sport for the tenth successive season,[2] with six league season games and the final also simulcast free-to-air by ITV.[3] Highlights of each weekend's games were shown on ITV with extended highlights on BT Sport.

The reigning champions entering the season were Leicester Tigers, who claimed their 11th league title after winning the 2022 final. No team was promoted as champions from the 2021–22 RFU Championship.[4]

Due to changes to the global rugby calendar implemented in 2020 and to allow more time for preparation for the World Cup, the season started and finished earlier than previous seasons and took place over a slightly reduced timeframe of 38 weeks.[5]

On 26 September 2022, due to ongoing financial difficulties, Worcester Warriors were suspended from all tournaments.[6] On 6 October 2022, it was announced that Worcester would be relegated from the Premiership, after the club was placed into administration and all player and staff contracts were terminated – their results were subsequently deleted from the Premiership's records.[7]

On 12 October 2022, due to ongoing financial difficulties, Wasps were suspended from all tournaments.[8] The club then entered administration on 17 October 2022 and their players and coaching staff were made redundant.[9] On October 28, it was confirmed that Wasps had been suspended for the remainder of the season and relegated – their results were subsequently deleted from the Premiership's records.[10]

Rule changes

This season saw the final year of a three-year moratorium on relegation from the league to the RFU Championship.[11]

This season was the second under the reduced salary cap regulations before changes are made before 2024–25. Further changes for this season were:

Teams

For the second consecutive year, all of the teams from the previous season initially competed in the league.[13] Despite winning the RFU Championship in the 2021–22 season, Ealing Trailfinders were ineligible for promotion, after failing to meet the RFU minimum standards criteria.[14] Therefore, the league continued to have 13 teams at the start of the season.[15]

Worcester Warriors were suspended from all competitions on 26 September 2022 and then expelled on 6 October 2022, reducing the league to 12 teams.[6]

Wasps were suspended from all competitions on 12 October 2022 and then expelled on 28 October 2022, reducing the league further to 11 teams.[8]

Stadiums and locations

  1. ^ a b Wasps were suspended from the league on 12 October 2022, entered administration on 17 October 2022, and their results were expunged on 28 October 2022.[8]
  2. ^ a b Worcester were suspended from the league on 26 September 2022 after entering administration, and their results were expunged on 6 October 2022.[6]
  3. ^ Director of Rugby Performance
  4. ^ Harlequins would also play two home games at Twickenham Stadium on 4 March 2023 and 22 April 2023.[16]
  5. ^ Steve Borthwick was the head coach of Leicester until 19 December 2022, when he departed the club to take up the position of England head coach.[17] Assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth was then appointed as the Tigers interim head coach until the end of the season.[18]
  6. ^ Dave Walder stepped down as the head coach of Newcastle on 16 March 2023, ahead of his departure from the club at the end of the season. Assistant coach Mark Laycock took charge on an interim basis for the last four rounds.[19]
  7. ^ Saracens would also play one home game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 25 March 2023.[20]

Player movements

Table

Updated to match(es) played on 6 May 2023. Source: [23]
Rules for classification: Games cancelled due to COVID-19 will be recorded as 0–0 but a win and 4 points will be awarded if a club was able to field a team and a loss and 2 points awarded if they were not.
Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.
(C) Champions; (RU) Runners-up; (SF) Losing semi-finalists
Notes:
  1. ^ Worcester Warriors and Wasps were suspended from the Premiership, after both clubs entered administration during the 2022–23 season. They were each automatically relegated, in accordance with RFU regulations, for the 2023–24 season, and their results were expunged from the league table.[21]
  2. ^ London Irish are ineligible for a place in either the 2023–24 Champions Cup or the 2023–24 Challenge Cup, despite their table position, due to the club's off-season suspension from all competitions.[22]

Round-by-round progression

The grid below shows each team's progression throughout the season, indicating their points total (and league table position) at the end of every round:

Regular season

The original fixtures for the regular season were announced by Premiership Rugby on 19 July 2022.[24] The league season began on 10 September 2022, a day later than first scheduled, after the opening night fixtures were postponed by 24 hours following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.[25] The season concluded with the Premiership Final on 27 May 2023.[26] Referees appointed to officiate Premiership matches are employed by the RFU, unless indicated otherwise.[27]

The regular season was initially set to play out over 26 rounds of six matches, with each of the 13 teams playing 24 times, plus two bye weeks.[28] However, after the removal of Worcester Warriors and Wasps from the league, several teams experienced extra bye weeks due to the cancellation of fixtures against those two clubs. In response to the disrupted schedule, Premiership Rugby announced a revised fixture list for the second half of the season on 11 November 2022.[29]

The revised league season consisted of 24 rounds of five games each, the last of which took place on the first weekend of May. All 11 remaining teams completed a total of 20 matches, with one bye week each in the second half of the season.[30]

Highlights of the season include:

Results

Source: Premiership Rugby
Note: Worcester and Wasps were suspended from the league on 26 September 2022 and 12 October 2022 after entering administration, and their results were expunged on 6 October 2022 and 28 October 2022.[8][6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Round 23

Round 24

Play-offs

As in previous seasons, the top four teams in the Premiership table, following the conclusion of the regular season, contested the play-off semi-finals on 13 and 14 May 2023, in a 1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd format, with the higher ranking team having home advantage.[39] The dates and times for the two play-off semi-finals were announced on 23 April 2023, after the qualifying teams were confirmed at the end of the regular season's penultimate round.[40] The two winners of the semi-finals met in the Premiership Final at Twickenham on 27 May 2023.[41]

Semi-finals


Final

Leading scorers

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

Note: Points or tries scored in fixtures involving Wasps or Worcester Warriors are not included, after Premiership Rugby expunged these results from record, following the expulsion of both clubs from the league.

Discipline

Citings/bans

Note: The cited player's club is listed in bold italics.[72]

Awards

Monthly awards

Player of the Month

The following received Player of the Month awards during the 2022–23 season, as selected by a panel of media commentators, in addition to monthly public polls.

Try of the Month

The following were chosen as Try of the Month, after receiving the most votes from the public. The winner for October was also recognised as the Try of the Season.[80]

End-of-season awards

The nominees for the 2023 Premiership Rugby Awards were announced on 5 May 2023.[88] The winners were then revealed on 10 May 2023.[89]

Team of the Season

Hall of Fame

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Match result and player scores deleted from record, after Wasps were relegated from the league.[35]
  2. ^ a b c d e f Match result and player scores deleted from record, after Worcester were relegated from the league.[35]
  3. ^ Big Game 14 was originally due to take place between Harlequins and Bristol on 27 December 2022, but this fixture was moved to Twickenham Stoop as a consequence of industrial action, resulting in a change of date and opponents for the event.[32]
  4. ^ a b The Showdown – Part 3 set a new record for the biggest television audience for a Premiership match in history.[33]
  5. ^ a b Match postponed from 9 September 2022, due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.[36]
  6. ^ a b Match cancelled because Worcester were unable to fulfill the fixture after entering into administration.[37]
  7. ^ a b Match cancelled because Wasps were unable to fulfill the fixture after entering into administration.[38]
  8. ^ a b Leicester won the inaugural editions of the Slater Cup.[31]
  9. ^ Match relocated from its original venue, Twickenham Stadium, in response to industrial action.[32]
  10. ^ Match relocated from its original venue, Twickenham Stoop, in response to industrial action.[16]
  11. ^ Saracens would also play one home game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 25 March 2023.[20]
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l The suspension is reduced by one match, subject to the player's completion of the World Rugby Coaching Intervention Programme.[49]
  13. ^ The sanction is implemented as an immediate two-match ban, with the remaining four matches conditionally suspended until the end of the 2023–24 season.[59]

See also

References

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External links