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BUCS Super Rugby
Sport	Rugby union
First season	2016-17
Administrator	British Universities and Colleges Sport
No. of teams	10
Country	Great Britain
Most recent; champion(s)	Loughborough University ; (2023-24 National Champions); University of Exeter ; (2023-24 League Champions)
Most titles	Hartpury University BUCS - 3 National Championships
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	North A or South A
Official website	www.bucs.org.uk/premier-sports/super-rugby.html

BUCS Super Rugby is the highest level of men's university rugby in Britain and a potential pathway for university players into elite rugby.^[3] It comprises ten teams from universities in England and Wales. The league is named for its governing body, British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS).

History

BUCS Super Rugby was launched in 2016 as a new, top level of university rugby above the existing North A and South A leagues.

The eight teams in the inaugural 2016–17 season were those who finished in the top four of the North A and South A leagues in the preceding 2015–16 season.

The league expanded to nine teams in the 2017–18 season and ten teams in the 2018–19 season.

Current clubs

Club	University	First season in league	Total number of seasons in league*
Bath	University of Bath	2016-17	7
Cardiff	Cardiff University	2018-19	5
Cardiff Met	Cardiff Metropolitan University	2016-17	7
Durham	Durham University	2016-17	7
Exeter	University of Exeter	2016-17	7
Hartpury**	Hartpury University	2016-17	7
Leeds Beckett	Leeds Beckett University	2016-17	7
Loughborough	Loughborough University	2016-17	7
Nottingham	University of Nottingham	2022-23	2
Swansea	Swansea University	2019-20	4

* Excludes the 2020-21 season, which was cancelled due to Covid-19.

** Not to be confused with Hartpury University R.F.C., who play in the RFU Championship.

Leeds Beckett University

Loughborough University

University of Nottingham

Swansea University

Cardiff

Teams in Cardiff
Cardiff University
Cardiff Metropolitan University

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Locations of BUCS Super Rugby teams

Cardiff University

Cardiff Metropolitan University

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Locations of BUCS Super Rugby teams in Cardiff

Season structure

The season has three phases:

League - a double round-robin tournament, where teams play each other home and away.
Championship - a knockout tournament featuring the top eight teams from the League.
Playoff - a knockout tournament featuring the team at the bottom of the League and the teams at the top of North A and South A leagues. The Playoff determines whether relegation and promotion occur.

League

The League season currently has 18 rounds and typically runs from September to March. League points are awarded in the following way:

4 points for winning a match
2 points for drawing a match
0 points for losing a match
1 losing bonus point for losing by 7 points (or less)
1 try bonus point for scoring (at least) 4 tries, regardless of the outcome.

In this points system winning teams get 4 or 5 points, drawing teams 2 or 3 points, and losing teams between 0 and 2 points.

Championship

The Championship competition has three rounds and typically takes place in April. It features the teams who finished in the top eight of the league.

Playoff

The team that finishes last in the league is not automatically relegated. Relegation from (and promotion to) BUCS Super Rugby is decided through a playoff in the format of a three-team, single-elimination tournament.

The playoff begins with a semi-final between the winners of the North A and South A leagues. The bottom placed BUCS Super Rugby team has a bye directly into the playoff game. The winner of the playoff game is the team that plays in the next season of BUCS Super Rugby.

North vs South Playoff		BUCS Super Rugby Playoff

			Bottom placed team in BUCS Super Rugby
	North A champions		Winner of North vs South Playoff
	South A champions

Results

League and Championship

Final position	Season	Season	Season	Season	Season	Season	Season
Final position	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20*	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
1	Hartpury (CH)	Exeter	Exeter (SF)	Durham	Durham (RU)	Loughborough (RU)	Exeter (RU)
2	Exeter (RU)	Northumbria	Hartpury (CH)	Exeter	Exeter (CH)	Exeter (CH)	Loughborough (CH)
3	Loughborough (SF)	Cardiff Met (RU)	Bath (SF)	Leeds Beckett	Cardiff Met (SF)	Durham	Hartbury (SF)
4	Durham	Leeds Beckett (SF)	Cardiff Met	Cardiff Met	Loughborough (SF)	Bath (SF)	Durham
5	Bath (SF)	Hartpury (CH)	Leeds Beckett (RU)	Hartpury	Swansea	Hartpury	Bath (SF)
6	Northumbria	Loughborough	Northumbria	Loughborough	Cardiff	Cardiff (SF)	Cardiff Met
7	Cardiff Met	Bath (SF)	Durham	Swansea	Hartpury	Cardiff Met	Leeds Beckett
8	Leeds Beckett	Durham	Cardiff	Bath	Leeds Beckett	Nottingham	Nottingham
9	-	Nottingham Trent	Loughborough	Cardiff	Bath	Swansea	Cardiff
10	-	-	Nottingham Trent (R)	Northumbria	Northumbria (R)	Leeds Beckett	Swansea

Green background (rows 1 to 8) are teams that progressed to the Championship tournament.

Red background is a team that was relegated after losing a playoff to a North A / South A team.

(CH) Champions. (RU) Runners-up. (SF) Losing semi-finalists. (R) Relegated
* No Championship tournament was held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Promotion and relegation

Season	Club promoted at start of season	Promoted from	Club relegated at end of season	Relegated to
2022-23	Nottingham	BUCS North A	None	N/A
2021-22	None	N/A	Northumbria	BUCS North A
2020-21	Season cancelled^[4] due to COVID-19
2019-20	Swansea	BUCS South A	None	N/A
2018-19	Cardiff	BUCS South A	Nottingham Trent	BUCS North A
2017-18	Nottingham Trent	BUCS North A	None	N/A

Alumni with international caps

Inclusion criteria: Played in a senior international test after playing in BUCS Super Rugby

Player	Year of first international cap	University	Year of last BUCS Super Rugby appearance
Alex Dombrandt	2021^[5]	Cardiff Metropolitan University	2018
Thibaud Flament	2021^[6]	Loughborough University	2019
Freddie Steward	2021^[7]	Loughborough University	2019^[8]
Dan Kelly	2021	Loughborough University	2020
Sebastian Negri	2016	Hartpury College	2017
Harry Randall	2021	Hartpury College	2018
Sam Skinner	2018	University of Exeter	2016
Ben Thomas	2021	Cardiff University	2018
Christ Tshiunza	2021 ^[9]	University of Exeter	2021 ^[10]
Stephen Varney	2020	Hartpury College	2019
Ross Vintcent	2024 ^[11]	University of Exeter	2023 ^[12]
Dafydd Jenkins	2022 ^[13]	University of Exeter	2022 ^[14]

Place in the BUCS Rugby Union pyramid

BUCS Super Rugby is the top division of men's university rugby in Britain. It sits in the Premier tier of the BUCS Rugby Union pyramid, along with North A, North B, South A and South B.

Premier	BUCS Super Rugby
	North A				South A
	North B				South B
Tier 1	Scottish 1A	Northern 1A		Midlands 1A		Western 1A		South Eastern 1A
Tier 2	Scottish 2A	Northern 2A	Northern 2B	Midlands 2A	Midlands 2B	Western 2A	Western 2B	South Eastern 2A		South Eastern 2B
Tier 3	Scottish 3A	Northern 3A	Northern 3B	Midlands 3A	Midlands 3B	Western 3A	Western 3B	South Eastern 3A		South Eastern 3B
Tier 4	Scottish 4A	Northern 4A	Northern 4B	Midlands 4A	Midlands 4B	Western 4A	Western 4B	South Eastern 4A	South Eastern 4C	South Eastern 4B
Tier 5		Northern 5A	Northern 5B	Midlands 5A		Western 5A		South Eastern 5A		South Eastern 5B
Tier 6								South Eastern 6A

Media coverage

Some BUCS Super Rugby matches are streamed live on the BUCS Sport YouTube channel. In the 2018-19 season some matches were broadcast on FreeSports.

References

^ "Sensational season finale at the StoneX". Retrieved 14 May 2024.
^ "BUCS BSR League Table". BUCS Super Rugby. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
^ "RFU". England Rugby. Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
^ "BUCS Super Rugby 2020/21 season cancelled due to unpredictable coronavirus pandemic".
^ "Radwan hat-trick as England crush Canada". BBC Sport.
^ Alderman, Elgan. "Thibaud Flament: From Loughborough University fifths to debut for France".
^ Bobby Bridge (5 July 2021). "Freddie Steward's England debut - how the national media rated the Leicester Tigers ace". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
^ Harvey, Joe. "326 34 Google +0 275 0 "You could tell quickly that he was destined for big things" - Freddie Steward, England's rising star". Talking Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
^ "Chiefs youngster makes Test debut".
^ "A glimpse into the rise of athletic Christ Tshiunza".
^ "Ireland v Italy Rugby Fixtures". Six Nations. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
^ "Ross Vintcent University of Exeter EURFC Profile". University of Exeter. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
^ "Wales Rugby Union Squad vs Georgia 2022". 15 November 2022.
^ "Dafydd Jenkins EURFC Profile".

[1] "Sensational season finale at the StoneX". Retrieved 14 May 2024.

[2] "BUCS BSR League Table". BUCS Super Rugby. Retrieved 19 March 2024.

[3] "RFU". England Rugby. Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 29 October 2021.

[4] "BUCS Super Rugby 2020/21 season cancelled due to unpredictable coronavirus pandemic".

[5] "Radwan hat-trick as England crush Canada". BBC Sport.

[6] Alderman, Elgan. "Thibaud Flament: From Loughborough University fifths to debut for France".

[7] Bobby Bridge (5 July 2021). "Freddie Steward's England debut - how the national media rated the Leicester Tigers ace". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 3 March 2022.

[8] Harvey, Joe. "326 34 Google +0 275 0 "You could tell quickly that he was destined for big things" - Freddie Steward, England's rising star". Talking Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 February 2024.

[9] "Chiefs youngster makes Test debut".

[10] "A glimpse into the rise of athletic Christ Tshiunza".

[11] "Ireland v Italy Rugby Fixtures". Six Nations. Retrieved 28 February 2024.

[12] "Ross Vintcent University of Exeter EURFC Profile". University of Exeter. Retrieved 28 February 2024.

[13] "Wales Rugby Union Squad vs Georgia 2022". 15 November 2022.

[14] "Dafydd Jenkins EURFC Profile".

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BUCS Super Rugby