The 2015–16 British and Irish Cup was the seventh season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. Worcester Warriors were the defending champions having won the 2014–15 final against Doncaster Knights 35–5 at Castle Park, Doncaster on 3 April 2015. There have been five different winners and six different losing finalists of the competition in the six seasons of its existence. The format of the competition was similar to last season with Scottish clubs not competing. This season the four Welsh teams are the reserve sides of the teams competing in the Pro 12 competition instead of clubs from the Welsh Premier Division.

Matches were played on the same weekends as the European Rugby Champions and Challenge cups. First round matches began on 13 November 2015 and the final was held on 10 April 2016.

Competition format The competition format is a pool stage followed by a knockout stage. The pool stage consists of five pools of four teams playing home and away matches. The top side in each pool, plus the three best runners-up, will progress to the knockout stage. The eight quarter-finalists will be ranked, with top four teams having home advantage. The four winning quarter-finalists will progress to the semi-final draw. Matches take place on the same weekends as the European Rugby Champions and Challenge cups.

Participating teams and locations The allocation of teams is as follows: – twelve clubs from RFU Championship – four Irish provinces represented by 'A' teams – four Welsh regions represented by Premiership Select teams.

Club Country League Stadium Capacity AreaBedford Blues EnglandRFU ChampionshipGoldington Road5,000 (1,700 seats)BedfordBristol EnglandRFU ChampionshipAshton Gate Stadium21,497BristolCardiff Blues Premiership Select WalesN/ACardiff Arms Park12,125CardiffConnacht Eagles IrelandIrish Interprovincial Rugby ChampionshipGalway Sportsgrounds9,500GalwayCornish Pirates EnglandRFU ChampionshipMennaye Field4,000PenzanceDoncaster Knights EnglandRFU ChampionshipCastle Park rugby stadium5,000DoncasterEaling Trailfinders EnglandRFU ChampionshipTrailfinders Sports Ground3,020 (1,020 seats)West Ealing, LondonJersey England RFU ChampionshipSt. Peter5,000Saint PeterLeinster A IrelandIrish Interprovincial Rugby ChampionshipDonnybrook Stadium6,000 (2,500 seats)DublinLondon Scottish EnglandRFU ChampionshipRichmond Athletic Ground4,500 (1,000 seats)Richmond, LondonLondon Welsh EnglandRFU ChampionshipOld Deer Park5,850 (1,000 seats)Richmond, LondonMoseley EnglandRFU ChampionshipBillesley Common3,000+BirminghamMunster A IrelandIrish Interprovincial Rugby ChampionshipSnugmoreRosbrienNew Ormond Park7,5004,0001,000KinsaleLimerickNenaghNewport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select WalesN/APandy ParkThe Bridge FieldEugene Cross Park3,0002,0008,000Cross KeysBedwasEbbw ValeNottingham Rugby EnglandRFU ChampionshipLady Bay Sports Ground2,000 (est)NottinghamOspreys Premiership Select WalesN/ATalbot Athletic GroundBrewery FieldThe Gnoll3,0008,0005,000Port TalbotBridgendNeathRotherham Titans EnglandRFU ChampionshipClifton Lane2,500RotherhamScarlets Premiership Select WalesN/ACarmarthen ParkParc y ScarletsStation Road3,00014,8702,500CarmarthenLlanelliBristolUlster Ravens IrelandIrish Interprovincial Rugby ChampionshipKingspan StadiumEaton ParkDeramore Park18,1961,0001,000+BelfastBallymenaBelfastYorkshire Carnegie EnglandRFU ChampionshipHeadingley Carnegie StadiumSilver RoydLockwood Park21,0621,9501,500LeedsScalbyHuddersfield

Pool stages

Pool 1

Postponed due to frozen pitch. Game rescheduled to 20 February 2016.

Game rescheduled from 16 January 2016.

Pool 2

Pool 3

Pool 4

Pool 5

Knock-out stage The eight qualifiers are seeded according to performance in the pool stage, and competed in the quarter-finals, which are held on the weekend of 11/12/13 March 2016. The four top seeds host the quarter-finals against the lower seeds, in a 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5 format. However, if two teams have qualified from the same group then they cannot be drawn together despite the seeding. Hence Leinster A and Moseley were not drawn together leading to a 1 v 7, 2 v 8, 3 v 6, 4 v 5 format.

Teams are ranked by: 1 – competition points (4 for a win, 2 for a draw) 2 – where competition points are equal, greatest number of wins 3 – where the number of wins are equal, aggregate points difference 4 – where the aggregate points difference are equal, greatest number of points scored

SeedPool WinnersPtsWinsPts diff1 Leinster A 29 6 1482 Yorkshire Carnegie 26 5 1043 Bedford Blues 24 5 224 Cornish Pirates 23 5 655 Doncaster Knights 22 4 89SeedPool Runners–upPtsWinsPts diff6 Jersey 21 4 847 London Welsh 20 4 308 Moseley 20 4 –369 Bristol 19 4 8810 London Scottish 19 4 7

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Attendances ClubHomeGamesTotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity Bedford Blues 4 9,241 2,310 2,455 2,126 46% Bristol Rugby 3 14,997 4,999 5,273 4,615 23% Cardiff Premiership Select 3 2,142 714 850 628 6% Connacht Eagles 3 450 150 225 100 2% Cornish Pirates 4 4,492 1,123 1,160 1,073 28% Doncaster Knights 3 3,682 1,227 1,386 1,051 25% Ealing Trailfinders 3 1,616 539 804 356 18% Jersey 3 5,026 1,675 1,772 1,606 34% Leinster A 4 2,882 721 932 350 12% London Scottish 3 2,672 891 941 849 20% London Welsh 4 3,594 899 1,157 642 15% Moseley 3 2,182 727 818 591 24% Munster A 3 1,677 559 850 300 18% Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select 3 800 267 400 200 7% Nottingham Rugby 3 2,845 948 1,018 874 47% Ospreys Premiership Select 3 1,200 400 500 325 9% Rotherham Titans 3 2,316 772 1,017 618 31% Scarlets Premiership Select 3 2,154 718 1,254 100 26% Ulster Ravens 3 2,632 877 1,607 425 37% Yorkshire Carnegie 6 6,239 1,040 3,107 580 15%

Individual statistics Note if players are tied on tries or points the player with the lowest number of appearances is placed first (if they have the same number of games, then the less minutes played will rank first). Also note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Appearance figures also include coming on as substitutes (unused substitutes not included).

Top points scorers Rank Player Team Appearances Points 1 Laurence May Cornish Pirates 8 70 2 Kevin Sinfield Yorkshire Carnegie 6 53 3 Peter Lydon London Scottish 5 51 4 Gareth Davies Cardiff Blues Premiership Select 4 42 5 Olly Barkley London Welsh 8 38 6 Sam Windsor Ulster Ravens 6 37 7 Josh Lewis Scarlets Premiership Select 6 36 8 Cathal Marsh Leinster A 3 35 9 Dan Leavy Leinster A 6 35 10 Uili Koloʻofai Jersey 8 35

Top try scorers Rank Player Team Appearances Tries 1 Dan Leavy Leinster A 6 7 2 Uili Koloʻofai Jersey 8 7 3 Chris Walker Yorkshire Carnegie 5 6 4 James Lewis London Welsh 7 6 5 Josh Bainbridge Yorkshire Carnegie 3 5 6 Tom Howe Jersey 6 5 7 Latu Makaafi Doncaster Knights 6 5 8 Taylor Prell Yorkshire Carnegie 7 5 9 James Freeman Jersey 8 5 10 Andy Saull Yorkshire Carnegie 2 4

Season records

Team Largest home win — 50 pts 56 - 6 Yorkshire Carnegie at home to London Scottish on 13 December 2015 Largest away win — 40 pts 40 - 0 Doncaster Knights away to Connacht Eagles on 16 January 2015 Most points scored — 62 62 - 16 Bristol Rugby at home to Scarlets Premiership Select on 22 November 2015 Most tries in a match — 9 Bristol Rugby at home to Scarlets Premiership Select on 22 November 2015 Most conversions in a match — 7 (x4) Bristol Rugby at home to Scarlets Premiership Select on 22 November 2015 Doncaster Knights away to Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select on 19 December 2015 London Scottish at home to Ospreys Premiership Select on 16 January 2016 Leinster A away to Moseley on 16 January 2016 Most penalties in a match — 4 (x3) Cornish Pirates away to Nottingham Rugby on 22 November 2015 Rotherham Titans at home to Moseley on 20 December 2015 Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select away to Jersey on 16 January 2016 Most drop goals in a match — 1 Leinster A away to Rotherham Titans on 14 November 2015

Player Most points in a match — 22 Matthew Morgan for Bristol Rugby at home to Ulster Ravens on 23 January 2016 Most tries in a match — 4 (x2) Uili Koloʻofai for Jersey away to Connacht Eagles on 12 December 2015 Andy Saull for Yorkshire Carnegie at home to Munster A on 17 January 2016 Most conversions in a match — 7 (x3) Gavin Henson for Bristol Rugby at home to Scarlets Premiership Select on 22 November 2015 Peter Lydon for London Scottish at home to Ospreys Premiership Select on 16 January 2016 Cathal Marshal for Leinster A away to Moseley on 16 January 2016 Most penalties in a match — 4 (x2) Laurence May for Cornish Pirates away to Nottingham Rugby on 22 November 2015 Rhys Jones for Newport Gwent Dragons Premiership Select away to Jersey on 16 January 2016 Most drop goals in a match — 1 Ross Byrne for Leinster A away to Rotherham Titans on 14 November 2015

Attendances Highest — 5,273 Bristol Rugby at home to Ulster Ravens on 23 January 2016 Lowest — 100 (x2) Scarlets Premiership Select at home to Ulster Ravens on 21 November 2015 Connacht Eagles at home to Doncaster Knights on 16 January 2016 Highest Average Attendance — 4,999 Bristol Rugby Lowest Average Attendance — 150 Connacht Eagles

References

External links Unofficial British and Irish Cup website - latest news, teams etc