CUP COMPETITIONS
RFU Women's Junior Cup
The Women's Junior Cup is a knockout rugby union competition for women's club in England that play at or below National Challenge 2. It includes a Plate competition for teams that lose in the first round, guaranteeing all participating clubs at least two matches. The competition aims to provide a competitive structure for developing clubs. The draw for the first two rounds are made on an area basis and the Cup and Plate finals are played at a neutral venue.
Junior Cup Regulations
RFU Women's Intemediate Cup Regulations
The Women's Intermediate Cup is a national knockout rugby uinion competition for womens teams playing at Championship 2 and National Challenge 1 level and involves regional cup ties before moving to national semi-finals and a final played at Twickenham. The competiton comprises of a Cup and Plate with 64 teams taking part and the losing team in the first round of the Cup entering the Plate Competition.
Intemediate Cup Regulations
LEAGUE COMPETITIONS
Structure
The RFU's women's rugby structure is a 6-level pyramid with the professional Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) at the top tier.
- Level 1: Premiership Women’s Rugby (9 Clubs)
- Level 2: Championship 1 - Two Leagues North and South (each with 10 Clubs)
- Level 3: Championship 2 (4 regional leagues)
- Level 4: National Challenge 1 (8 regional leagues)
- Level 5: National Challenge 2 (16 regional leagues)
- Level 6: National Challenge 3 (TBC)
Regulations
RFU Regulation 6 covers adult competitions and sets out the rules for player eligibility, referee appointments, grounds, pitch markings and technical areas, replacements, match abandonment, score reporting, promotion and relegation.
Promotion and Relegation
In RFU community rugby teams are typically automatically promoted by achieving the top league position. The exact number of promotion spots depends on the league structure and is determined by the RFU Organising Committee. Promotion can sometimes be decided by a play-off or by a comparison of the Best Playing Record (BPR), based on a percentage calculation of total possible league points.
Registration and Recording
All players in England are required to register annually on GMS (Game Management System) to play rugby for RFU member clubs. An adult player can not be selected on an EMC (Electronic Match Card) unless they are registered on GMS. GMS and EMCs work together as digital tools for recording player and refreree details, points scored, match results, managing leagues, and tracking player and team statistics.
