2017–18 WRU Championship

The 2017–18 WRU Championship was the sixth season of the WRU Championship, the second tier of club rugby in Wales run by the Welsh Rugby Union. It is the second season to feature 12 teams, reduced from 14 in previous seasons. This season is the second to be "ring-fenced" with the champion club not being promoted due to changes in the Principality Premiership. The competition was won again by Pontypool who completed the feat of going a whole season unbeaten, winning all 22 games. The bottom two clubs that were relegated were Skewen and Glynneath (both to 1 West Cenrtral).

2017–18 WRU National Championship
Countries Wales
Date2 September 2017 – 10 May 2018
ChampionsPontypool (2nd title)
RelegatedSkewen
Glynneath
Matches played132

Structure

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Each team in the Championship will play each other twice on a home and away basis for a total of 22 matches played each. The team with the most points at the end of the season will be declared the winners. The winning club will not be promoted due to "ring-fencing" of the Premiership. The bottom two clubs at the end of the season will be relegated to Division 1 (based on geographical location).

Teams

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At the end of last season, Glamorgan Wanderers and Dunvant were relegated to Division 1 East Central and West Central respectively. This season saw the return of playoffs between the Division 1 East and East Central champions and Division 1 West and West Central champions to determine which clubs will participate in this year's Championship. The promoted clubs were East champions Rhydyfelin and West Central champions Trebanos. Both clubs beat Treorchy and Kidwelly respectively. Both clubs were making their debuts in the competition.

Promotion play-offs

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6 May 2017
14:30
Rhydyfelin42 – 24Treorchy
Recreation Ground
18 May 2017
19:15
Trebanos25 – 18Kidwelly
Trebanos Park

13 May 2017
14:30
Treorchy13 – 10Rhydyfelin
The Oval

Rhydyfelin won 52–37 on aggregate.

25 May 2017
19:15
Kidwelly5 – 31Trebanos
Parc Stephens

Trebanos won 56–23 on aggregate.

Locations of the 2017–18 WRU Championship teams with colour markers to represent the region they belong to:

Orange = Dragons
Blue = Cardiff Blues
Black = Ospreys

Red = Scarlets
Club Stadium Capacity Area
Beddau Mount Pleasant Park unknown Beddau, Rhondda Cynon Taf
Bedlinog Recreation Ground unknown Bedlinog, Merthyr Tydfil
Cardiff Metropolitan University Cyncoed Campus 1,620 Cyncoed, Cardiff
Glynneath Abernant Park unknown Glynneath, Neath Port Talbot
Narberth Lewis Lloyd Ground unknown Narberth, Pembrokeshire
Newbridge Welfare Ground 5,000 Newbridge, Caerphilly
Newcastle Emlyn Dôl Wiber unknown Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire
Pontypool Pontypool Park 8,800 Pontypool, Torfaen
Rhydyfelin Recreation Ground unknown Rhydyfelin, Rhondda Cynon Taf
Skewen Tennant Park unknown Skewen, Neath Port Talbot
Tata Steel Tata Sports and Social Club unknown Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot
Trebanos Trebanos Park unknown Trebanos, Neath Port Talbot

Standings

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2017–18 WRU National Championship Table
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 Pontypool (C) 22 22 0 0 926 239 +687 139 30 19 0 107
2 Narberth 22 14 1 7 595 439 +156 79 60 11 3 72
3 Trebanos 22 14 0 8 501 335 +166 69 43 9 4 69
4 Tata Steel 22 13 0 9 546 483 +63 77 63 10 4 66
5 Newbridge 22 12 0 10 455 462 −7 62 61 7 3 58
6 Bedlinog 22 10 2 10 480 501 −21 59 66 9 5 58
7 Rhydyfelin 22 10 0 12 391 435 −44 52 59 4 5 49
8 Newcastle Emlyn 22 9 1 12 470 633 −163 59 84 6 3 47
9 Beddau 22 8 0 14 379 543 −164 49 73 5 6 43
10 Cardiff Metropolitan University 22 7 2 13 473 638 −165 60 92 5 3 40
11 Skewen (R) 22 7 0 15 352 535 −183 43 70 2 4 34
12 Glynneath (R) 22 3 0 19 292 617 −325 39 86 2 3 17
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: "WRU Championship". allwalessport.
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Number of tries scored
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Difference between points for and against
    (C) Champion; (R) Relegated
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