EDF Energy Cup

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EDF Energy Cup
2006-07 EDF Energy Cup

Sport	Rugby union
Founded	1971
No. of teams	16
Country	England Wales
Current champions	London Wasps

The EDF Energy Cup, also known as the Anglo-Welsh Cup and the English & Welsh rugby union knock-out cup competition featuring all 12 Guinness Premiership clubs and all 4 Welsh Regions. Prior to the 2005-06 season, the competition was open to all English clubs. Bath have won it ten times, twice as many as the second most successful club, Leicester Tigers. The current champions are the London Wasps, who defeated the Llanelli Scarlets in the 2005-06 tournament.

1 Sponsorship
2 1971-2005
3 Anglo-Welsh Cup
4 Pools
5 List of winners
- 5.1 By year
- 5.2 By number won
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Sponsorship

The Powergen Cup (centre) seen in the London Irish clubhouse at Sunbury in 2002. Photo by Paul Warrender.

John Player Cup
- (1972-1988)
Pilkington Cup
- (1989-1997)
Tetley's Bitter Cup
- (1998-2000)
Powergen Cup
- (2001-2005)
EDF Energy Cup
- (2006-)

[edit] 1971-2005

Known as the John Player Cup, the first competition took place in 1972, and Gloucester were crowned inaugural champions, defeating Moseley in the final, 17 to 6. Coventry won two titles in succession in 1973 and 1974, and after Bedford's championship win in 1975, Gosforth also won two in succession, in 1976 and 1977. Gloucester won their second title in 1978. The competition was then dominated by Leicester, who won three championships in a row, until Gloucester won their third title in 1982. Leicester were again in the final in 1983, but lost to Bristol. Leicester's record run was then broken by Bath from 1984-87, who won the John Player Cup four times in a row, until Harlequins won their first in 1988.

The name of the cup was changed to the Pilkington Cup for the 1989 tournament. Bath picked up from where they left of in the late 1980s, going onto win another six times from 1989-1997. The Harlequins won their second title in 1991, and Leicester added to their three championships in 1993 and again in 1997. The cup changed is name again after Leicesters' 1997 victory, becoming the Tetley's Bitter Cup for the 1998 season. The Saracens won their first title, defeating Wasps FC in 1998. The Wasps were again in the final in 1999, and defeated Newcastle to claim their first championship. The Wasps also won the 2000 competition.

In 2001 the name of the tournament was changed to the Powergen Cup. Newcastle won the first Powergen Cup, defeating the Harlequins 30-27. The London Irish won it for their first time the following season, and Gloucester won it for the first time since 1982. Newcastle won in 2004, and in 2005 the Leeds Tykes defeated Bath to win it for the first time.

[edit] Anglo-Welsh Cup

Starting in 2005-06, the cup featured a new format including only the twelve teams from the Guinness Premiership and the four regional Welsh clubs. Teams from National Division One and below now play for the Powergen National Trophy.

In place of the knock-out format, the 16 sixteen clubs are placed in four pools with 3 English clubs and 1 Welsh club. The pool stages of the Anglo-Welsh Cup tournament feature one game against each team. The winners of each of the four groups progress to the semi-finals. The pools will stay as they are for the following season as well, with home and away fixtures reversed and the club relegated from the Guinness Premiership's place taken by the club promoted from National Division One.

In addition to increased TV revenue (the revised Powergen Cup has already inked a handsome new broadcasting agreement with the BBC) and a possible boost to matchday income, the Powergen Cup will also offer its winner qualification to the even more lucrative Heineken Cup club competition. As base compensation all 16 Powergen clubs are guaranteed £250,000 each, with a prize fund of up to £200,000 available to the semi-finalists.^[1]

The Welsh clubs' inclusion initially caused them to be expelled from the Celtic League. Celtic League officials were angered that the Welsh Clubs had apparently consented to Powergen Cup fixtures on the same weekend of Celtic League matches. The political fallout resulted in the expulsion of the Welsh clubs from the league. Eventually, a compromise was reached, and the Welsh clubs were readmitted.

The Scarlets playing Bath at the Millennium Stadium.

Many rugby union commentators see the Powergen Cup as a boon to Wales as it reinforces their regional club structure begun in 2003 when Wales began the regional structure common to southern hemisphere powers such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. (See the Observer, "Fine for the Welsh, but at what cost to England?", 25 September 2005). But the benefits are less apparent to the English clubs, especially as the breakdown between Twickenham and the Guinness Premiership clubs intensifies.

Interest in the Powergen Cup was high during the first two rounds. Over 100,000 spectators attend matches, while the television audience peaked at 1.2 million on BBC2 for the Newcastle Falcons v. Llanelli Scarlets match.[1] Overall, the 2005-2006 cup drew a 12% attendance boost in the group stages over the previous year's competition.^[2]

However, Powergen decided to withdraw all of its rugby sponsorship after the conclusion of the 2005-2006 cup competitions.^[3] The new sponsor of the Anglo-Welsh Cup will be EDF Energy.^[4]

The pools (or groups) for the Powergen Cup were decided on a regional basis, comprising of three English sides geographically close to one another, and one Welsh club again divided as far as possible by their location. Pools for 2005-06 and 2006-07 Powergen Cups are as below.

[edit] Pools

Pool A: Gloucester, Bristol, Bath, Ospreys

Pool B: London Irish, Wasps, Saracens, Cardiff Blues

Pool C: Sale Sharks, Newcastle Falcons, NEC Harlequins, Llanelli Scarlets

Pool D: Leicester Tigers, Worcester Warriors, Northampton Saints, Newport Gwent Dragons

Note: NEC Harlequins replaced Leeds Tykes for the 2006-07 season when Leeds were relegated from the Premiership and Harlequins were promoted from National Division 1.

[edit] List of winners

[edit] By year

[edit] John Player Cup

1972 Gloucester 17 - 6 against Moseley
1973 Coventry 27 - 15 against Bristol
1974 Coventry 26 - 6 against London Scottish
1975 Bedford 28 - 12 against Rosslyn Park
1976 Gosforth 23 - 14 against Rosslyn Park
1977 Gosforth 27 - 11 against Waterloo
1978 Gloucester RFC 6 - 3 against Leicester
1979 Leicester 15 - 12 against Moseley
1980 Leicester 21 - 9 against London Irish
1981 Leicester 22 - 15 against Gosforth
1982 Gloucester RFC and Moseley (shared) 12 - 12
1983 Bristol 28 - 22 against Leicester
1984 Bath 10 - 9 against Bristol
1985 Bath 24 - 15 against London Welsh
1986 Bath 25 - 17 against Wasps FC
1987 Bath 19 - 12 against Wasps FC
1988 Harlequins 28 - 22 against Bristol

[edit] Pilkington Cup

1989 Bath 10 - 6 against Leicester
1990 Bath 48 - 6 against Gloucester
1991 Harlequins 25 - 13 against Northampton
1992 Bath 15 - 12 against Harlequins
1993 Leicester 23 - 16 against Harlequins
1994 Bath 21 - 9 against Leicester
1995 Bath 36 - 16 against Wasps FC
1996 Bath 16 - 15 against Leicester
1997 Leicester 9 - 3 against Sale

[edit] Tetley's Bitter Cup

1998 Saracens 48 - 18 against Wasps FC
1999 Wasps FC 29 - 19 against Newcastle
2000 London Wasps 23 - 31 against Northampton

[edit] Powergen Cup

2001 Newcastle 30 - 27 against Harlequins
2002 London Irish 38 - 7 against Northampton
2003 Gloucester RFC 40 - 22 against Northampton
2004 Newcastle 37 - 33 against Sale
2005 Leeds 20 - 12 against Bath

[edit] Powergen Anglo Welsh Cup

2006 London Wasps 26 - 10 against Llanelli Scarlets

[edit] EDF Energy (Anglo Welsh) Cup

2007

[edit] By number won

Position	Club	Times won
1	Bath	10
2	Leicester	5
3=	Gloucester RFC	4
3=	Gosforth/Newcastle	4
5	Wasps	3
6=	Coventry	2
6=	NEC Harlequins	2
8=	Bedford	1
8=	Bristol	1
8=	London Irish	1
8=	Saracens	1
8=	Leeds	1

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Cup resurrects Anglo-Welsh contests of old days. The Times. Retrieved on 30 September 2006.
^ EDF Energy to sponsor UK’s premier cup competition. Rugby Football Union. Retrieved on 30 September 2006.
^ Powergen to end cup sponsorships. BBC. Retrieved on 30 September 2006.
^ Anglo-Welsh Cup gets new sponsor. BBC. Retrieved on 30 September 2006.

[edit] External links

v • d • e Rugby union in England
Federation:	Rugby Football Union
National team:	England • England Saxons • England Sevens • British and Irish Lions
International Competitions:	Rugby World Cup • Six Nations Championship • Heineken Cup • European Challenge Cup • European Shield • Churchill Cup • Rugby World Cup Sevens • IRB Sevens World Series • London Sevens
Domestic Competitions:	Guinness Premiership • EDF Energy Cup • National Division One • National Division Two • National Division Three North • National Division Three South
Guinness Premiership teams:	Bath • Bristol • Gloucester • Harlequins • Leicester Tigers • London Irish • Newcastle Falcons • Northampton Saints • Sale Sharks • Saracens • London Wasps • Worcester Warriors
National Division One teams:	Bedford • Cornish Pirates • Coventry • Doncaster • Exeter Chiefs • Leeds Tykes • London Welsh • Moseley • Newbury • Nottingham • Otley • Pertemps Bees • Plymouth Albion • Rotherham • Sedgley Park • Waterloo

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Categories: Rugby union competitions | Rugby union in England | Rugby union in Wales