The 2008–09 Guinness Premiership was the 22nd season of the top flight of the English domestic rugby union competitions, played between September 2008 and May 2009. Round 1 included the London Double Header at Twickenham, between the four London teams.

This season saw the introduction of the controversial ELVs, although only 13 of the rules were used, as opposed to the 30 that were trialled in the Super 14.

The previous season Northampton Saints gained promotion to the league this season by finishing top of the National Division One, taking the place of Leeds Carnegie who were relegated. In 2007–2008, Gloucester RFC finished top of the league but were beaten by Leicester Tigers in the semi-finals. London Wasps went on to beat Leicester Tigers 26–16 in the final.

Season synopsis Leicester Tigers finished top of the league table, then were crowned Champions after defeating Bath 24–10 in the semi-final and London Irish 10–9 in the final at Twickenham.

Going into the season, the top six clubs were all assured of berths in the 2009–10 Heineken Cup. By advancing to the final of the 2008–09 competition, Leicester secured a seventh place for England.Under Heineken Cup rules, an extra berth is given to either England, France, or Italy, depending on which country's club advances the farthest in the previous season's Heineken Cup. No Italian team made the knockout stage; France's only representative in the knockout stage; Toulouse, went out in the quarter-finals. The four Premiership semi-finalists—Leicester, Harlequins, London Irish, and Bath—plus Sale Sharks and Gloucester secured Heineken Cup berths. The seventh berth was secured by Northampton Saints when they defeated French side Bourgoin in the European Challenge Cup final on 22 May. The remaining clubs that will compete in the 2009–10 Premiership will compete in the 2009–10 Challenge Cup.

The club that finishes bottom of the table is relegated and replaced by the club that tops the second-level National Division One. This season, Bristol were relegated, to be replaced by Leeds Carnegie, which won promotion at the first opportunity.

Teams Northampton Saints, having won the 2007–08 National Division One, replaced Leeds Carnegie, who were relegated last season after finishing bottom of the table.

Club Stadium Capacity City/Area Bath Recreation Ground 10,600 Bath, Somerset Bristol Memorial Stadium 12,100 Bristol Gloucester Kingsholm 16,500 Gloucester, Gloucestershire Harlequins Twickenham Stoop 12,638 Twickenham, London Leicester Tigers Welford Road 17,500 Leicester, Leicestershire London Irish Madejski Stadium 24,161 Reading, Berkshire London Wasps Adams Park 10,000 High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire Newcastle Falcons Kingston Park 10,200 Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear Northampton Saints Franklin's Gardens 13,600 Northampton, Northamptonshire Sale Sharks Edgeley Park 10,852 Stockport, Greater Manchester Saracens Vicarage Road 19,920 Watford, Hertfordshire Worcester Warriors Sixways 12,068 Worcester, Worcestershire Notes

Table

Results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Rearranged fixtures

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Rearranged fixtures

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Play-offs

Semi-finals

Final

FB 15 Geordan Murphy (c) RW 14 Scott Hamilton OC 13 Ayoola ErinleIC 12 Dan HipkissLW 11 Johne MurphyFH 10 Sam VestySH 9 Julien DupuyN8 8 Jordan CraneOF 7 Ben Woods BF 6 Craig NewbyRL 5 Ben KayLL 4 Tom CroftTP 3 Julian WhiteHK 2 George ChuterLP 1 Marcos AyerzaReplacements:HK 16 Benjamin KayserPR 17 Dan Cole LK 18 Louis Deacon FL 19 Lewis MoodySH 20 Harry EllisWG 21 Matt Smith WG 22 Tom Varndell Coach: Richard Cockerill FB 15 Peter HewatRW 14 Adam ThompstoneOC 13 Delon ArmitageIC 12 Seilala MapusuaLW 11 Sailosi TagicakibauFH 10 Mike CattSH 9 Paul Hodgson N8 8 Chris Hala'ufia OF 7 Steffon ArmitageBF 6 Declan Danaher RL 5 Bob Casey (c)LL 4 James Hudson TP 3 Richard Skuse HK 2 Danie CoetzeeLP 1 Clarke Dermody Replacements:PR 16 Alex Corbisiero HK 17 James Buckland PR 18 Gary Johnson FL 19 Richard Thorpe CE 20 Elvis Seveali'i SH 21 Peter Richards FB 22 Tom HomerCoach: Toby Booth

Top 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 did not earn international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

Most points Source: Rank Player ClubPoints1 Glen JacksonSaracens2392 Butch JamesBath2123 Charlie HodgsonSale Sharks1874 Stephen MylerNorthampton Saints1585 Peter HewatLondon Irish1496 Danny CiprianiLondon Wasps1467 Nick EvansHarlequins1278 Toby FloodLeicester Tigers1269 Olly BarkleyGloucester12510 Tom MayNewcastle Falcons112

Most tries Source: Rank Player ClubTries1 Joe MaddockBath112 Mark CuetoSale Sharks9 Paul DigginNorthampton Saints David LemiBristol Ugo MonyeHarlequins6 Iain BalshawGloucester 7 Mike BrownHarlequins Olly MorganGloucester Johne MurphyLeicester Tigers Lee Robinson Bristol Adam Thompstone London Irish

Notes

External links Official site Match Attendance figure