2009–10 Premiership Rugby


The 2009–10 Guinness Premiership was the 23rd season of the top flight of the English domestic rugby union competitions, played between September 2009 and May 2010. Defending champions Leicester Tigers topped the regular season league table and then won their third title in four years and their ninth overall after they defeated Saracens in the Premiership final at Twickenham on 29 May 2010.
As usual, round 1 included the London Double Header at Twickenham, the sixth instance since its inception in 2004.
This was the final season for the competition as the Guinness Premiership. Effective with the 2010–11 season, the competition would henceforth be known as the Aviva Premiership for at least four seasons.

The previous season

The season saw the introduction of the controversial ELVs, although only 13 of the rules were used, as opposed to the 30 that were trialled in the Super 14. Most were abandoned at the end of the season.
Leicester Tigers finished top of the league after the home-and-away season and went on to win the championship, first defeating Bath 24–10 in the semifinals and then edging London Irish 10–9 in the final at Twickenham.
Bristol were relegated, to be replaced by Leeds Carnegie promoted back to the premiership at the first opportunity.

Teams

, having won the 2008–09 National Division One, replaced Bristol, who were relegated last season after finishing bottom of the table.
ClubKit SupplierCaptainStadiumCapacityCity/Area
BathPuma Michael ClaassensRecreation Ground11,700Bath, Somerset
GloucesterRugbyTech Gareth Delve
Mike Tindall		Kingsholm Stadium16,500Gloucester, Gloucestershire
HarlequinsKooGa Will SkinnerTwickenham Stoop14,282Twickenham, London
Leeds CarnegieISC Marco WentzelHeadingley22,250Leeds, West Yorkshire
Leicester TigersCotton Geordan MurphyWelford Road24,000Leicester, Leicestershire
London IrishRugbyTech Bob CaseyMadejski Stadium24,161Reading, Berkshire
London WaspsCCC Tom ReesAdams Park10,516High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Newcastle FalconsCotton Carl HaymanKingston Park10,200Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
Northampton SaintsRhino Dylan HartleyFranklin's Gardens13,591Northampton, Northamptonshire
Sale SharksCotton Dean SchofieldEdgeley Park10,852Stockport, Greater Manchester
SaracensKooGa Steve BorthwickVicarage Road19,920Watford, Hertfordshire
Worcester WarriorsKukri Pat SandersonSixways12,068Worcester, Worcestershire

;Notes

Table

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
-Champions
-Qualified for home play-off.
-Qualified for away play-off.
-Losing Finalists
-Relegated to Championship

Results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Rearranged fixture

Round 18

Rearranged fixture

Round 19

Rearranged fixtures

Round 20

Rearranged fixture

Round 21

Round 22

Play-offs

Semi-finals

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Final

Total Season Attendances

ClubHome
Games		TotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity
Bath11128,21511,65611,70011,30099%
Gloucester11138,44512,58616,50010,54876%
Harlequins11190,70117,33676,7169,20981%
Leeds Carnegie1166,5016,04610,1464,03127%
Leicester Tigers12268,64722,38724,00017,97493%
London Irish11147,33413,39421,5358,56155%
London Wasps11204,77518,61667,6847,17381%
Newcastle Falcons1166,9596,0878,7664,27560%
Northampton Saints12144,34613,12213,54112,07396%
Sale Sharks1183,7047,6099,3366,92470%
Saracens11263,01323,91067,6847,10150%
Worcester Warriors11115,93710,54012,0249,51087%

Individual statistics

Top points scorers

PlayerTeamPoints
Jimmy GopperthNewcastle Falcons219
Toby FloodLeicester Tigers216
Nicky RobinsonGloucester198

Top try scorers

PlayerTeamTries
Chris AshtonNorthampton Saints16
Joe MaddockBath11
Matt BanahanBath10