# 2023–24 División de Honor de Rugby

The 2023–24 División de Honor is the 57th season of the División de Honor, the top flight of Spanish domestic rugby union.
Valladolid won its seventh title in eight years, its thirteenth overall, defeating local rivals El Salvador in the final.

## Competition format

The season took place between October and May.
Points were awarded as follows:
* 4 points for a win
* 2 points for a draw
* 1 bonus point for a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match
* 1 bonus point for a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer
Each team played twelve games - one game against each opponent. Then the league divided into two groups: the top six teams progressed to Group A and the remaining six teams progressed to Group B. The teams played the other members of their groups once more.
Eight teams progressed through to the playoffs, meaning the top two teams from Group B qualified along with the six teams from Group A.

### Promotion and relegation

The second-tier División de Honor B is made up of three regional groups. The top eight teams across the three groups play off; the champion is promoted to División de Honor, at the expense of the team which finishes last in the División de Honor.
The runner-up plays a further playoff against the team which finishes 11th in the top flight.

## Teams

Gernika RT and La Vila were relegated while Alcobendas were promoted.
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Location | |
| Alcobendas | Las Terrazas | 2,000 | Alcobendas, Madrid | AlcobendasValladolid El SalvadorSantboianaAparejadoresOrdiziaBarcelonaCisnerosCienciasAbellesBelenosPozueloclass=notpageimage| Current División de Honor teams |
| Aparejadores | San Amaro | 1,000 | Burgos, Castile and León | AlcobendasValladolid El SalvadorSantboianaAparejadoresOrdiziaBarcelonaCisnerosCienciasAbellesBelenosPozueloclass=notpageimage| Current División de Honor teams |
| Ciencias | Instalaciones Deportivas La Cartuja | 3,000 | Seville, Andalusia | AlcobendasValladolid El SalvadorSantboianaAparejadoresOrdiziaBarcelonaCisnerosCienciasAbellesBelenosPozueloclass=notpageimage| Current División de Honor teams |
| Complutense Cisneros | Estadio Complutense | 12,400 | Madrid, Madrid | AlcobendasValladolid El SalvadorSantboianaAparejadoresOrdiziaBarcelonaCisnerosCienciasAbellesBelenosPozueloclass=notpageimage| Current División de Honor teams |
| El Salvador | Pepe Rojo | 5,000 | Valladolid, Castile and León | AlcobendasValladolid El SalvadorSantboianaAparejadoresOrdiziaBarcelonaCisnerosCienciasAbellesBelenosPozueloclass=notpageimage| Current División de Honor teams |
| FC Barcelona | La Teixonera | 500 | Barcelona, Catalonia | AlcobendasValladolid El SalvadorSantboianaAparejadoresOrdiziaBarcelonaCisnerosCienciasAbellesBelenosPozueloclass=notpageimage| Current División de Honor teams |
| Belenos RC | Estadio Yago Lamela | 1,163 | Avilés, Asturias | AlcobendasValladolid El SalvadorSantboianaAparejadoresOrdiziaBarcelonaCisnerosCienciasAbellesBelenosPozueloclass=notpageimage| Current División de Honor teams |
| Les Abelles | Polideportivo de Quatre Carreres | 500 | Valencia, Valencia | AlcobendasValladolid El SalvadorSantboianaAparejadoresOrdiziaBarcelonaCisnerosCienciasAbellesBelenosPozueloclass=notpageimage| Current División de Honor teams |
| Ordizia | Altamira | 2,000 | Ordizia, Basque Country | AlcobendasValladolid El SalvadorSantboianaAparejadoresOrdiziaBarcelonaCisnerosCienciasAbellesBelenosPozueloclass=notpageimage| Current División de Honor teams |
| Pozuelo | Valle de las Cañas | 500 | Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid | AlcobendasValladolid El SalvadorSantboianaAparejadoresOrdiziaBarcelonaCisnerosCienciasAbellesBelenosPozueloclass=notpageimage| Current División de Honor teams |
| Santboiana | Baldiri Aleu | 3,500 | Sant Boi de Llobregat, Catalonia | AlcobendasValladolid El SalvadorSantboianaAparejadoresOrdiziaBarcelonaCisnerosCienciasAbellesBelenosPozueloclass=notpageimage| Current División de Honor teams |
| Valladolid | Pepe Rojo | 5,000 | Valladolid, Castile and León | AlcobendasValladolid El SalvadorSantboianaAparejadoresOrdiziaBarcelonaCisnerosCienciasAbellesBelenosPozueloclass=notpageimage| Current División de Honor teams |

## Results and standings
### First phase

Aparejadores set the pace in the first phase of the season, winning ten games out of eleven and scoring more than 40 points on six occasions.
| | ALC | APA | BEL | CIE | CIS | ELS | FCB | LES | ORD | POZ | SAN | VAL |
| Alcobendas | — | | | 44–38 | | 43–34 | 28–29 | | 29–30 | 31–23 | | |
| Aparejadores | 48–26 | — | 66–13 | | 40–26 | 26–8 | | | 52–24 | | 32–10 | |
| Belenos RC | 23–26 | | — | | 45–28 | | | 30–20 | | | 32–36 | 0–31 |
| Ciencias | | 22–28 | 25–20 | — | | 31–14 | | 25–25 | 29–19 | | | 14–19 |
| Complutense Cisneros | 41–21 | | | 14–22 | — | 16–21 | 32–39 | | | 24–3 | | |
| El Salvador | | | 33–5 | | | — | | 30–10 | 50–20 | | 17–17 | 0–27 |
| FC Barcelona | | 17–45 | 40–37 | 26–38 | | 39–15 | — | | 17–22 | 13–30 | | |
| Les Abelles | 0–21 | 32–28 | | | 0–22 | | 38–15 | — | | 43–28 | 14–24 | |
| Ordizia | | | 34–35 | | 19–38 | | | 10–15 | — | | 44–38 | 18–28 |
| Pozuelo | | 5–45 | 34–0 | 12–57 | | 22–42 | | | 7–26 | — | | 13–24 |
| Santboiana | 10–19 | | | 16–15 | 34–19 | | 45–42 | | | 30–13 | — | |
| Valladolid | 7–0 | 24–31 | | | 31–10 | | 47–8 | 34–0 | | | 43–20 | — |
The first phase concluded in January 2024, with five of the six teams which qualified for Group A being the same as 2022-23.
| | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | TF | TA | +/- | BP | Los | Pts |
| 1 | Aparejadores | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 441 | 207 | 234 | 61 | 22 | 39 | 8 | 1 | 49 |
| 2 | Valladolid | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 315 | 114 | 201 | 39 | 9 | 30 | 6 | 1 | 47 |
| 3 | Ciencias | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 316 | 237 | 79 | 39 | 26 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 32 |
| 4 | Alcobendas | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 288 | 283 | 5 | 35 | 39 | -4 | 0 | 3 | 28 |
| 5 | Santboiana | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 280 | 290 | -10 | 29 | 31 | -2 | 1 | 0 | 28 |
| 6 | El Salvador | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 264 | 256 | 8 | 33 | 31 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 24 |
| 7 | Complutense Cisneros | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 270 | 275 | -5 | 30 | 37 | -7 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| 8 | FC Barcelona | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 285 | 377 | -92 | 39 | 46 | -7 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| 9 | Ordizia | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 266 | 338 | -78 | 19 | 36 | -17 | 0 | 2 | 18 |
| 10 | Les Abelles | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 197 | 267 | -70 | 27 | 33 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 11 | Belenos RC | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 240 | 373 | -133 | 30 | 51 | -21 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| 12 | Pozuelo | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 190 | 335 | -145 | 20 | 40 | -20 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
* Qualified for Group A
* Qualified for Group B

### Second phase

Group A
| | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | TF | TA | +/- | Bon | Los | Pts |
| 1 | Aparejadores | 16 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 551 | 302 | 249 | 73 | 30 | 43 | 8 | 2 | 66 |
| 2 | Valladolid | 15 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 400 | 205 | 195 | 51 | 20 | 31 | 6 | 2 | 56 |
| 3 | Ciencias | 15 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 435 | 283 | 152 | 55 | 31 | 24 | 4 | 5 | 47 |
| 4 | El Salvador | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 372 | 337 | 35 | 46 | 42 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 39 |
| 5 | Alcobendas | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 367 | 395 | -28 | 43 | 53 | -10 | 0 | 5 | 34 |
| 6 | Santboiana | 16 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 338 | 424 | -86 | 38 | 54 | -16 | 1 | 2 | 33 |
Group B
| | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | TF | TA | +/- | Bon | Los | Pts |
| 1 | Complutense Cisneros | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 444 | 393 | 51 | 52 | 52 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 37 |
| 2 | Les Abelles | 16 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 304 | 377 | -73 | 39 | 45 | -6 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| 3 | Ordizia | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 392 | 453 | -61 | 42 | 52 | -10 | 1 | 4 | 29 |
| 4 | Pozuelo | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 334 | 451 | -117 | 35 | 54 | -19 | 1 | 1 | 26 |
| 5 | FC Barcelona | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 393 | 510 | -117 | 50 | 61 | -11 | 1 | 5 | 26 |
| 6 | Belenos RC | 16 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 348 | 548 | -200 | 44 | 74 | -30 | 0 | 5 | 21 |
* Qualified for playoff quarterfinals
* Relegation playoff
* Relegation to División de Honor B

## Playoffs

The season climaxed with three extremely close games in the semifinals and final, with Valladolid prevailing over local rivals El Salvador to win their second consecutive title.
| Quarter finals | Quarter finals | Quarter finals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Aparejadores | 53 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Les Abelles | 7 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Les Abelles | 7 | Aparejadores | Aparejadores | 16 | | | |
| | | | El Salvador | El Salvador | 12 | | | |
| 4 | El Salvador | 36 | El Salvador | El Salvador | 12 | | | |
| 5 | Alcobendas | 17 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Alcobendas | 17 | | | | El Salvador | El Salvador | 19 |
| | | | | | | Valladolid | Valladolid | 20 |
| 2 | Valladolid | 30 | | | | | | | Valladolid | Valladolid | 20 |
| 7 | Complutense | 21 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Complutense | 21 | Valladolid | Valladolid | 14 | | | |
| | | | Ciencias | Ciencias | 10 | | | |
| 3 | Ciencias | 37 | Ciencias | Ciencias | 10 | | | |
| 6 | Saintboiana | 15 | | | | | | |

## Relegation playoff

The relegation playoff was played over two legs by Barcelona, the team finishing 11th in División de Honor, and Ingenieros Industriales Las Rozas, the losing team from the División de Honor B promotion playoff final. Barcelona won the game 34-3, retaining their place in the División de Honor for the 2024–25 season.

### Relegation Playoff

* 2 May 2024
| Barcelona | 34-3 | Las Rozas |

## Copa del Rey

The Copa del Rey returned to its 2021-22 format; the twelve teams were divided into four groups of three and their league results counted towards the qualification for the cup.
Group A: Les Abelles, Pozuelo, Valladolid
Group B: Alcobendas, Barcelona, Aparejadores Group C: Real Ciencias, Santboiana, Pasek Belenos Group D: Ordizia, Complutense Cisnerosm El Salvador

### Semifinals

The winner of each group proceeded to the semifinals of the cup, which were one-legged ties.
* 11 February 2024
| El Salvador | 6-15 | Valladolid |
* 11 February 2024
| Aparejadores | 32-17 | Santboiana |

### Final

The final was a rematch of the 2023 final, but was won this time by Aparejadores, who denied Valladolid a second consecutive double.
* 4 May 2024
| Valladolid | 19-20 | Aparejadores |