2011–12 RFU Championship
Countries	England
Champions	London Welsh
Runners-up	Cornish Pirates
Relegated	Esher
Matches played	174
Attendance	342,849 (average 1,970 per match)
Top point scorer	Rob Cook (Cornish Pirates) 310 pts
Top try scorer	Josh Bassett (Bedford Blues) 17 tries
← 2010–11 2012–13 →

The 2011–12 RFU Championship was the third season (of the professionalised format) of the second tier of the English domestic rugby union competition, played between August 2011 and May 2012. New teams to the division included Leeds Carnegie who were relegated from the Aviva Premiership 2010–11 and London Scottish who were promoted from 2010–11 National League 1.^[1] The first stage was won by Bristol and the final by London Welsh who, after an appeal, won promotion to the Aviva Premiership 2012–13.^[2] Esher were relegated to the 2012–13 National League 1.^[3]

On 8 May 2012 it was announced that only Bristol was eligible for promotion under the RFU's minimum standards criteria.^[4] They were subsequently beaten by the Cornish Pirates in the semi–finals who in turn lost to the eventual champions, London Welsh.^[5] London Welsh had announced on 14 May that they would meet the RFU's eligibility test to play in the Premiership if they should win promotion and two days later announced they would play at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford if successful. On 23 May, the day of the first leg of the final, the RFU announced that London Welsh would not be eligible for promotion due to "various failures". The appeal by London Welsh was heard by an Independent Panel on 29 June who upheld it stating ″... that the Exiles should be promoted on the basis that they play their home games at Oxford's Kassam Stadium and that the club meet the minimum entry criteria to the league as imposed by the Professional Game Board.″ Chief Executive Officer of the RFU, Ian Richie, subsequently announced that there would be a full review of the Minimum Standard Criteria.^[6][7][8]

Bedford

Bristol

Cornish Pirates

Doncaster

Esher

Leeds

London Scottish

London Welsh

Moseley

Nottingham

Plymouth

Rotherham

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Locations of the 2011–12 RFU Championship teams

This season saw Leeds Carnegie back in the Championship following relegation from the Aviva Premiership during the 2010–11 season, as well as London Scottish, who won promotion to the Championship from the National League 1 during the same season.

The Home Team is listed on the left column.

^[9]

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 15 February 2012.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 22 February 2012.

• Postponed. Game rescheduled to 22 February 2012.

A total of 251,542 people watched the 132 stage one matches to give an average of 1,903 per match. The highest attendance was 8,067 on Sunday, 8 January 2012 at the match between Bristol and Bedford Blues which Bristol won 26–6.

^[10]

^[11]

^[12]

^[13]

• (Adj) Refers to adjustment for the number of points awarded before the start of the play-offs.

Going into the final stage, only one of the four semi–finalists Bristol, reportedly met the RFU's standards for promotion to the Premiership. According to some reports, London Welsh were also pursuing promotion, and announced on 14 May they would attempt a legal challenge to the Premiership's entry criteria if they won the play–offs. The Cornish Pirates could not meet the criteria due to deficiencies at their home ground at the Mennaye Field.^[14]

4 May 2012 19:45

Bedford Blues	3 – 13	London Welsh
Pen: Pritchard 63' (1)	Report	Try: Tongaʻuiha 22'c Con: Davies (1/1) Pen: Davies 27', 40' (2)

Goldington Road, Bedford Attendance: 4,075 Referee: Sean Davey (England)

FB 15 James Pritchard (c) RW 14 Ollie Dodge OC 13 Brendan Burke IC 12 Henry Staff LW 11 Josh Bassett FH 10 Jake Sharp SH 9 Luke Baldwin N8 8 Donald Barrell OF 7 Darren Fox BF 6 Alex Rae RL 5 Mike Howard LL 4 Paul Tupai TP 3 Ben Cooper HK 2 Chris Locke LP 1 Ricky Reeves Replacements: HK 16 Neil Cochrane PR 17 Sam Walsh PR 18 Phil Boulton N8 19 Jon Fisher FL 20 Sacha Harding SH 21 Darryl Veenendaal FH 22 Jamie Lennard Coach: Mike Rayer

FB 15 Alex Davies RW 14 Joe Ajuwa OC 13 James Lewis IC 12 Hudson Tongaʻuiha LW 11 Nick Scott FH 10 Gordon Ross SH 9 Jack Moates N8 8 Ed Jackson OF 7 Mike Denbee BF 6 Jonathan Mills (c) RL 5 Matt Corker LL 4 Adam Brown TP 3 James Tideswell HK 2 Dan George LP 1 Billy Moss Replacements: HK 16 Viliami Ma'asi PR 17 Shawn Pittman PR 18 Greg Bateman LK 19 Gary Johnson FL 20 Lee Beach SH 21 Robert Lewis CE 22 Seb Jewell Coach: Lyn Jones

7 May 2012 12:05

Cornish Pirates	45 – 24	Bristol
Try: Cook 48'c, Rimmer 58'c, 76'm, Doherty 66'c, Pointer 72'c Con: Cook (4/5) Pen: Cook 15', 22', 26', 52' (4)	Report	Try: Merriman 6'c, Helu 10'c, 55'c Con: Jones (3/3) Pen: Jones 20' (1)

Mennaye Field, Penzance Attendance: 2,983 Referee: JP Doyle (England)

FB 15 Rob Cook RW 14 Grant Pointer OC 13 Andrew Suniula IC 12 Sam Hill LW 11 David Doherty FH 10 Ceiron Thomas SH 9 Gavin Cattle (c) N8 8 Ben Maidment OF 7 Phil Burgess BF 6 Chris Morgan RL 5 Ian Nimmo LL 4 Laurie McGlone TP 3 Alan Paver HK 2 Dave Ward LP 1 Carl Rimmer Replacements: PR 16 Ryan Storer HK 17 Rob Elloway PR 18 Rudi Brits FL 19 Dave Ewers N8 20 Kyle Marriott SH 21 Tom Kessell WG 22 Matt Evans Coach: Ian Davies

FB 15 Jon Goodridge RW 14 Jack Tovey OC 13 Fautua Otto IC 12 Luke Eves LW 11 William Helu FH 10 Matthew Jones SH 9 Ruki Tipuna N8 8 Dan Montagu OF 7 James Merriman BF 6 Iain Grieve (c) RL 5 Roy Winters LL 4 Glen Townson TP 3 Jason Hobson HK 2 Jason Harris-Wright LP 1 Mark Irish Replacements: HK 16 Tom Channon PR 17 Mark Lilley PR 18 Wayne Thompson LK 19 Ben Glynn FL 20 Henry Vanderglas FH 21 Tom Slater FB 22 Matty James Coach: Liam Middleton

13 May 2012 12:45

Bristol	29 – 18	Cornish Pirates
Try: Goodridge 6'c, 53'c, Watkins 70'm, Helu 77'c Con: Roberts (2/3), James (1/1) Pen: Roberts 41' (1)	Report	Try: Cook 27'c, Burgess 65'm Con: Cook (1/1), Thomas (0/1) Pen: Cook 4', 79' (2)

Memorial Stadium, Bristol Attendance: 7,356 Referee: Sean Davey (England)

FB 15 Jon Goodridge RW 14 William Helu OC 13 Fautua Otto IC 12 Luke Eves LW 11 George Watkins FH 10 Tristan Roberts SH 9 Ruki Tipuna N8 8 Iain Grieve (c) OF 7 James Merriman BF 6 Josh Ovens RL 5 Roy Winters LL 4 Mariano Sambucetti TP 3 Jason Hobson HK 2 Jason Harris-Wright LP 1 Mark Irish Replacements: HK 16 Ross Johnstone PR 17 Mark Lilley PR 18 Wayne Thompson LK 19 Ben Glynn FL 20 Henry Vanderglas SH 21 Tom Slater FH 22 Matty James Coach: Liam Middleton

FB 15 Rob Cook RW 14 Grant Pointer OC 13 Andrew Suniula IC 12 Sam Hill LW 11 David Doherty FH 10 Ceiron Thomas SH 9 Gavin Cattle (c) N8 8 Kyle Marriott OF 7 Phil Burgess BF 6 Chris Morgan RL 5 Ian Nimmo LL 4 Laurie McGlone TP 3 Alan Paver HK 2 Dave Ward LP 1 Carl Rimmer Replacements: PR 16 Ryan Storer HK 17 Rob Elloway PR 18 Rudi Brits LK 19 Matt Smith FL 20 Dave Ewers WG 21 Matt Evans SH 22 Tom Kessell Coach: Ian Davies

• Cornish Pirates progressed to the Championship final, winning on aggregate 63–53.

13 May 2012 15:00

London Welsh	17 – 24	Bedford Blues
Try: Scott 48'm Con: Davies (0/1) Pen: Davies 3', 19', 24', 54' (4)		Try: Dodge 40'c, Barrell 73'c, Cochrane 80'c Con: Pritchard (3/3) Pen: Pritchard 42' (1)

Old Deer Park, London Attendance: 3010 Referee: Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts (England)

FB 15 Alex Davies RW 14 Joe Ajuwa OC 13 James Lewis IC 12 Hudson Tongaʻuiha LW 11 Nick Scott FH 10 Gordon Ross SH 9 Robert Lewis N8 8 Ed Jackson OF 7 Mike Denbee BF 6 Jonathan Mills (c) RL 5 Matt Corker LL 4 Adam Brown TP 3 James Tideswell HK 2 Dan George LP 1 Max Lahiff Replacements: PR 16 Billy Moss PR 17 Greg Bateman LK 18 Gary Johnson FL 19 Lee Beach SH 20 Jack Moates FH 21 Seb Jewell WG 22 Ashley Smith Coach: Lyn Jones

FB 15 James Pritchard (c) RW 14 Ollie Dodge OC 13 Brendan Burke IC 12 Henry Staff LW 11 Josh Bassett FH 10 Jamie Lennard SH 9 Luke Baldwin N8 8 Jon Fisher OF 7 Sacha Harding BF 6 Gregor Gillanders RL 5 Mike Howard LL 4 Paul Tupai TP 3 Phil Boulton HK 2 Neil Cochrane LP 1 Ricky Reeves Replacements: HK 16 Chris Locke PR 17 Sam Walsh LK 18 Alex Rae N8 19 Donald Barrell FL 20 Darren Fox SH 21 Darryl Veenendaal CE 22 Ian Vass Coach: Mike Rayer