# BUCS Super Rugby

BUCS Super Rugby is the highest level of men's university rugby in Britain and a potential pathway for university players into elite rugby. It comprises ten teams from universities in England and Wales. The league is named for its governing body, British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS).

## History

BUCS Super Rugby was launched in 2016 as a new, top level of university rugby above the existing North A and South A leagues.
The eight teams in the inaugural 2016–17 season were those who finished in the top four of the North A and South A leagues in the preceding 2015–16 season.
The league expanded to nine teams in the 2017–18 season and ten teams in the 2018–19 season.

## Season structure

The season has three phases:
* League - a double round-robin tournament, where teams play each other home and away.
* Championship - a knockout tournament featuring the top eight teams from the League.
* Playoff - a knockout tournament featuring the team at the bottom of the League and the teams at the top of North A and South A leagues. The Playoff determines whether relegation and promotion occur.

### League

The League season currently has 18 rounds and typically runs from September to March. League points are awarded in the following way:
* 4 points for winning a match
* 2 points for drawing a match
* 0 points for losing a match
* 1 losing bonus point for losing by 7 points (or less)
* 1 try bonus point for scoring (at least) 4 tries, regardless of the outcome.
In this points system winning teams get 4 or 5 points, drawing teams 2 or 3 points, and losing teams between 0 and 2 points.

### Championship

The Championship competition has three rounds and typically takes place in April. It features the teams who finished in the top eight of the league.

### Playoff

The team that finishes last in the league is not automatically relegated. Relegation from (and promotion to) BUCS Super Rugby is decided through a playoff in the format of a three-team, single-elimination tournament.
The playoff begins with a semi-final between the winners of the North A and South A leagues. The bottom placed BUCS Super Rugby team has a bye directly into the playoff game. The winner of the playoff game is the team that plays in the next season of BUCS Super Rugby.
| North vs South Playoff | BUCS Super Rugby Playoff |
| | Bottom placed team in BUCS Super Rugby |
| North A champions | Winner of North vs South Playoff |
| South A champions | |

## Results
### League and Championship

| Final position | Season | Season | Season | Season | Season | Season | Season |
| Final position | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20* | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
| 1 | Hartpury (CH) | Exeter | Exeter (SF) | Durham | Durham (RU) | Loughborough (RU) | Exeter (RU) |
| 2 | Exeter (RU) | Northumbria | Hartpury (CH) | Exeter | Exeter (CH) | Exeter (CH) | Loughborough (CH) |
| 3 | Loughborough (SF) | Cardiff Met (RU) | Bath (SF) | Leeds Beckett | Cardiff Met (SF) | Durham | Hartpury (SF) |
| 4 | Durham | Leeds Beckett (SF) | Cardiff Met | Cardiff Met | Loughborough (SF) | Bath (SF) | Durham |
| 5 | Bath (SF) | Hartpury (CH) | Leeds Beckett (RU) | Hartpury | Swansea | Hartpury | Bath (SF) |
| 6 | Northumbria | Loughborough | Northumbria | Loughborough | Cardiff | Cardiff (SF) | Cardiff Met |
| 7 | Cardiff Met | Bath (SF) | Durham | Swansea | Hartpury | Cardiff Met | Leeds Beckett |
| 8 | Leeds Beckett | Durham | Cardiff | Bath | Leeds Beckett | Nottingham | Nottingham |
| 9 | - | Nottingham Trent | Loughborough | Cardiff | Bath | Swansea | Cardiff |
| 10 | - | - | Nottingham Trent (R) | Northumbria | Northumbria (R) | Leeds Beckett | Swansea |
    Green background (rows 1 to 8) are teams that progressed to the Championship tournament.
    Red background is a team that was relegated after losing a playoff to a North A / South A team.
    (CH) Champions. (RU) Runners-up. (SF) Losing semi-finalists. (R) Relegated * No Championship tournament was held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

### Promotion and relegation

| Season | Club promoted at start of season | Promoted from | Club relegated at end of season | Relegated to |
| 2022-23 | Nottingham | BUCS North A | None | N/A |
| 2021-22 | None | N/A | Northumbria | BUCS North A |
| 2020-21 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 |
| 2019-20 | Swansea | BUCS South A | None | N/A |
| 2018-19 | Cardiff | BUCS South A | Nottingham Trent | BUCS North A |
| 2017-18 | Nottingham Trent | BUCS North A | None | N/A |

## Alumni with international caps

Inclusion criteria: Played in a senior international test after playing in BUCS Super Rugby
| Player | Year of first international cap | University | Year of last BUCS Super Rugby appearance |
| Alex Dombrandt | 2021 | Cardiff Metropolitan University | 2018 |
| Thibaud Flament | 2021 | Loughborough University | 2019 |
| Freddie Steward | 2021 | Loughborough University | 2019 |
| Dan Kelly | 2021 | Loughborough University | 2020 |
| Sebastian Negri | 2016 | Hartpury College | 2017 |
| Harry Randall | 2021 | Hartpury College | 2018 |
| Sam Skinner | 2018 | University of Exeter | 2016 |
| Ben Thomas | 2021 | Cardiff University | 2018 |
| Christ Tshiunza | 2021 | University of Exeter | 2021 |
| Stephen Varney | 2020 | Hartpury College | 2019 |
| Ross Vintcent | 2024 | University of Exeter | 2023 |
| Dafydd Jenkins | 2022 | University of Exeter | 2022 |

## Place in the BUCS Rugby Union pyramid

BUCS Super Rugby is the top division of men's university rugby in Britain. It sits in the Premier tier of the BUCS Rugby Union pyramid, along with North A, North B, South A and South B.
| Premier | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby | BUCS Super Rugby |
| Premier | North A | North A | North A | North A | North A | North A | North A | North A | North A | South A | South A | South A | South A | South A | South A | South A | South A | South A | South A | South A | South A |
| Premier | North B | North B | North B | North B | North B | North B | North B | North B | North B | South B | South B | South B | South B | South B | South B | South B | South B | South B | South B | South B | South B |
| Tier 1 | Scottish 1A | Scottish 1A | Scottish 1A | Northern 1A | Northern 1A | Northern 1A | Northern 1A | Midlands 1A | Midlands 1A | Midlands 1A | Midlands 1A | Western 1A | Western 1A | Western 1A | Western 1A | South Eastern 1A | South Eastern 1A | South Eastern 1A | South Eastern 1A | South Eastern 1A | South Eastern 1A |
| Tier 2 | Scottish 2A | Scottish 2A | Scottish 2A | Northern 2A | Northern 2A | Northern 2B | Northern 2B | Midlands 2A | Midlands 2A | Midlands 2B | Midlands 2B | Western 2A | Western 2A | Western 2B | Western 2B | South Eastern 2A | South Eastern 2A | South Eastern 2A | South Eastern 2A | South Eastern 2B | South Eastern 2B |
| Tier 3 | Scottish 3A | Scottish 3A | Scottish 3A | Northern 3A | Northern 3A | Northern 3B | Northern 3B | Midlands 3A | Midlands 3A | Midlands 3B | Midlands 3B | Western 3A | Western 3A | Western 3B | Western 3B | South Eastern 3A | South Eastern 3A | South Eastern 3A | South Eastern 3A | South Eastern 3B | South Eastern 3B |
| Tier 4 | Scottish 4A | Scottish 4A | Scottish 4A | Northern 4A | Northern 4A | Northern 4B | Northern 4B | Midlands 4A | Midlands 4A | Midlands 4B | Midlands 4B | Western 4A | Western 4A | Western 4B | Western 4B | South Eastern 4A | South Eastern 4A | South Eastern 4C | South Eastern 4C | South Eastern 4B | South Eastern 4B |
| Tier 5 | | | | Northern 5A | Northern 5A | Northern 5B | Northern 5B | Midlands 5A | Midlands 5A | Midlands 5A | Midlands 5A | Western 5A | Western 5A | Western 5A | Western 5A | South Eastern 5A | South Eastern 5A | South Eastern 5A | South Eastern 5A | South Eastern 5B | South Eastern 5B |
| Tier 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | South Eastern 6A | South Eastern 6A | South Eastern 6A | South Eastern 6A | South Eastern 6A | South Eastern 6A |

## Media coverage

Some BUCS Super Rugby matches are streamed live on the BUCS Sport YouTube channel. In the 2018-19 season some matches were broadcast on FreeSports.