Webb Ellis Somerset County Cup 2022/23

Webb Ellis Somerset County Vase 2022/23

Following the inauguration of the RFU Papa John’s Cup for Club’s 1st XV’s at the end of the season the Committee have decided that the Somerset Cup and Vase will be run over the same period to give those Clubs/Teams not entered into that Competition options to keep playing until the end of the season.

To ensure that the Somerset Competitions are relevant and provide a realistic level of competitiveness the Cup and Vase competitions, and a Bowl competition if there is sufficient interest, will be run based on current league levels and be split into Pools of 6 teams in the initial stages determined on a geographical basis.

The Cup competition will comprise the top 12 Clubs not entered into the RFU Competition as determined by their league placings by the Competitions Committee on 1 March 2023 to be split into 2 Pools of 6 teams.

The Vase Competition will comprise the next 24 Clubs/Teams as determined by the Competitions Committee on 1 March 2023 and will be split into 2 Pools of 6 Clubs/Teams in the North of the County and 2 Pools of 6 Teams in the South of the County.

A draw will take place once these positions have been determined to place each Club/Team into place in each of their respective Pools as drawn. This will then determine the fixtures they will have to play based on a predetermined matrix already agreed by the Committee which is shown below.

Each Club/Team will be guaranteed 2 home matches and 2 away matches which will mean that each Club/Team will play 4 of the 5 other Clubs/Teams in their Pool on a home or away basis. Pools will use the current points system as currently in use in their respective leagues.

Once the Pool stages have completed there will be Semi Finals on a straight knockout basis between the winners of each Pool playing the 2nd placed Club/Team in their opposing Pool and the winners of those matches will progress to their respective Final. The Semi-Finals and Finals will be played at neutral venues.

In the interests of encouraging participation there will be no requirement for any Bonds to be paid to the County and there will be a prize of £300 to the winners of the Cup and Vase with £150 also going to the losing finalists.

As an indication of the Clubs/Teams who are eligible to take part in the Somerset Competitions please see the structure below which shows all the Clubs/Teams who have not entered or are not eligible to enter the RFU Papa John’s Cups.

Based on the remaining Clubs/Teams a Bowl competition could be arranged for the remaining sides as follows:

Therefore the following Clubs/Teams shown above are invited to enter the respective competition and to let the Committee know their intentions by no later than 31st January 2023. If there are any Clubs or particularly Teams within Clubs who have not been included and wish to be so, please let the Committee know as soon as possible.

I set out below the proposed schedule for matches for Clubs/Teams as shown above to consider. The obvious benefit would be that all Clubs/Teams would have the option to continue their season beyond the scheduled final League dates of 11 Mar 2023 at all levels.

If there are Clubs/Teams which do not wish to enter the County Competitions can each Club let the Committee know as soon as possible so that the Committee can adjust the entries as necessary.

A full set of the Rules relating to these competitions are available to all Clubs and will be published and are available on the Somerset RFU Website and Social Media sites. Please note The SCRFU Cup and Vase Competitions are not RFU Competitions and therefore they have no jurisdiction over the decisions of the SCRFU Competitions Sub Committee.

If there are any queries please contact myself or any Member of the Committee.

Nick Robins
Chair of Competitions Committee
Somerset County Rugby Football Union Limited
nick.robins@somersetrfu.co.uk