The South West Rugby League was a summer rugby league competition for amateur teams in South West England. The competition was formed in 2003 as the RLC South West Regional. Its name changed following the 2012 restructure of amateur rugby league in Great Britain.
The league has not played since its last documented season in 2023.
History
The Rugby League Conference was founded in 1997 as the Southern Conference, a 10-team pilot league for teams in the South of England and the English Midlands.
The conference made the leap from 30 to 52 teams in 2003 and a South West Division appeared for the first time. It disappeared in 2004 as South West teams took part in the Western Division and Cardiff Demons joined the newly created Welsh Division.
The Premier divisions saw a change in boundaries leaving the North Premier division covering a larger area to give the English Midlands clubs their own premier division without having to face heartland teams, this left the West Midlands division with too few teams to run, resulting in a merged West Midlands and South West Division.
After a campaign by the RFL to form new clubs in the South West, a new South West division was created in 2007 for teams from the West Country. By 2010, there were enough teams to have a South West conference split into two pools.
For the 2011 season, there was a new RLC West of England alongside the RLC South West. The initial idea was that the two leagues would compete side by side with play-offs at the end of the season to decide an overall South West champion. In 2011, Gloucestershire Warriors defeated Somerset Vikings in the Championship play-off. In 2012, the intended play-off match was cancelled as the majority of the Devon Sharks team, the South West Champions, were unable to break off from the start of the rugby union season to fulfil the fixture.
The South Western Rugby League was formed in February 2013 to organise and administer the South West Men's League following the switch of the majority of community clubs in England to a summer season and the ending of the Rugby League Conference in 2011.
The league has consequently not been competed for since its last season in 2023, where the league was won by Devon Sharks.
Position in Pyramid
1: Betfred Super League 2: Betfred Championship 3: Betfred League One 4: National Conference Premier Division 5: National Conference League One 6: National Conference League Two 7: National Conference League Three
Participating teams by season
South West League 2003: Bristol Sonics, Cardiff Demons, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Somerset Vikings, Worcestershire Saints 2005: Bristol Sonics, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Plymouth, Somerset Vikings, Thames Valley 2007: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings 'A' 2008: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings 2009: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings, South Dorset Giants 2010: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings, South Dorset Giants, South Somerset Warriors 2011: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings, South Dorset Giants, (South Somerset Warriors withdrew mid-season) 2012: Devon Sharks, Exeter Centurions, Exmouth Saints (replacements for East Devon Eagles; failed to complete the season), North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans 2013: Cornish Rebels, Devon Sharks, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings A 2014: Cornish Rebels, Devon Sharks, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans 2015: Cornish Rebels, Devon Sharks, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans 2018: Cornish Rebels, Dorset County Giants, Saltash Essayons, Tarka Storm, Teignbridge Trojans (league was known as South West Premier in the West of England Leagues) 2019: Devon Sharks, Dorset County Giants, Saltash Essayons, Tarka Storm, Teignbridge Trojans 2021: Cornish Rebels, Cornwall, Devon, Exeter Ravens RL, Saltash Essayons, Tarka Storm, Teignbridge Trojans 2022: Exeter Ravens RL, Royal Navy Development XIII, Saltash Essayons, Tarka Storm, Teignbridge Trojans# 2023: Devon Sharks, Exeter Ravens RL, Tarka Storm, Teignbridge Trojans
Winners
South West League 2003: Cardiff Demons 2005: Gloucestershire Warriors 2007: Plymouth Titans 2008: East Devon Eagles 2009: Devon Sharks 2010: East Devon Eagles 2011: Somerset Vikings 2012: Devon Sharks 2013: Devon Sharks 2014: Cornish Rebels 2018: Cornish Rebels 2019: Devon Sharks 2021: Tarka Storm 2022: Tarka Storm 2023: Devon Sharks
South West Cup
The South West cup is a knock-out competition played for by members of the South West Division. It was originally known as the Devon Cup.
2006: East Devon Eagles (as Devon Cup) 2007: East Devon Eagles (as Devon Cup) 2008: Plymouth Titans (as Devon Cup) 2009: East Devon Eagles 2010: Devon Sharks 2011: Plymouth Titans 2012: Exeter Centurions 2013: Cornish Rebels 2014: Cornish Rebels 2015: Exeter Centurions
South West Nines
The South West Nines is a rugby league nines competition. It is competed for by RLC South West and RLC West of England teams and local student rugby league sides.
2007: Plymouth Titans 2008: Exeter University 2009: Exeter University 2010: Exeter University 2011: Exeter University 2012: Plymouth Titans 2013: Exeter University 2014: Cornish Rebels 2015: Cornish Rebels
County Challenge
In 2010, an intended one–off County of Origin style match was played between Devon and Cornwall with Devon winning 44–20. The match was featured on the BBC national news and was widely covered by the rugby league press. It has since been competed for on several occasions as the Martin Roddy MBE Trophy. Winners are:
2010: Devon 2011: Devon 2012: Cornwall 2013: Cornwall 2015: Devon
South West County Championship Festival The first South West County Championship took place on the May Bank Holiday weekend in 2011 at Aretians RFC in Bristol. The 2012 Event took place at Bridgwater RFC in Somerset. Winners are:
2011: Hampshire 2012: Hampshire
References
External links https://www.rugby-league.com/competitions/community-leagues/south-west-league