2014–15 Premiership Rugby


The 2014–15 Aviva Premiership was the 28th season of the top flight of English domestic rugby union competition, and the fifth to be sponsored by Aviva. The competition was broadcast by BT Sport for the second successive season, showing sixty-nine live matches. Highlights of each weekend's games were shown on ITV.
The reigning champions entering the season were Northampton Saints, who claimed their first title after defeating Saracens in the 2013–14 final. Northampton were unable to defend their title, as Saracens avenged their previous defeat with a 29–24 win in the play-off semi-final. Saracens – who finished fourth and only made the play-offs on the final day of the season – went on to win their second Premiership title, beating Bath 28–16 in the final.
Worcester Warriors, having finished bottom of the 2013–14 table, were relegated to the RFU Championship. They were replaced by London Welsh, who made an immediate return to the Premiership, having beaten Bristol in the 2013–14 RFU Championship play-off final. These places were reversed at the end of the season; London Welsh were relegated after losing all 22 games during the 2014–15 season and scoring just one point in the competition – the worst season statistically in the competition's history – while Worcester Warriors defeated Bristol 59–58 over the two-legged Championship play-off final.

Teams

ClubCoachCaptainStadiumCapacityCity/Area
Bath Mike Ford Stuart HooperThe Recreation Ground13,500Bath, Somerset
Exeter Chiefs Rob Baxter Dean MummSandy Park12,300Exeter, Devon
Gloucester David Humphreys Billy TwelvetreesKingsholm Stadium16,500Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Harlequins Conor O'Shea Joe MarlerTwickenham Stoop14,816Twickenham, London
Leicester Tigers Richard Cockerill Ed SlaterWelford Road24,000Leicester, Leicestershire
London Irish Brian Smith George SkivingtonMadejski Stadium24,161Reading, Berkshire
London Welsh Justin Burnell Tom MayKassam Stadium12,500Oxford, Oxfordshire
Newcastle Falcons Dean Richards Will WelchKingston Park10,200Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
Northampton Saints Jim Mallinder Dylan HartleyFranklin's Gardens13,591Northampton, Northamptonshire
Sale Sharks Bryan Redpath Daniel BraidAJ Bell Stadium12,000Salford, Greater Manchester
Saracens Mark McCall Alistair HargreavesAllianz Park10,000Hendon, London
Wasps Dai Young James HaskellAdams Park
Ricoh Arena
10,516
32,609
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Coventry, West Midlands

;Notes

Table

Pre-season

The Premiership Rugby Sevens Series continued with the 2014 edition. In a change to the format, the series was expanded to include the four Welsh Regions. As a result, the series began on 26 July 2014, at the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park, continuing at Kingsholm, Franklin's Gardens and Kingston Park on 31 July, 1 August and 2 August 2014 respectively. The finals were on 8 August 2014 at the Twickenham Stoop. This was the first opportunity of the season for any of the teams competing in the Premiership to win a trophy.
Gloucester won the series for the second year in the row, beating Newport Gwent Dragons 12–5 in the final to become the first team to retain the title. As Gloucester have already qualified for the World Club 7s at Twickenham, the place allocated to the winner of the final was given to Harlequins, as the next best performing English club.

Regular season

Fixtures for the season were announced by Premiership Rugby on 4 July and, as with previous seasons, Round 1 included the annual London Double Header. Fixtures as per Premiership Rugby . All matches following Round 9 were subject to change depending on the television picks for a given round.

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

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Play-offs

Semi-finals

As with previous season, the top four teams contested the semi-finals in a 1st v 4th, 2nd v 3rd format.

Final

Statistics

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under WR eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

Top points scorers

RankPlayerTeamPoints
1 Andy GoodeWasps240
2 Stephen MylerNorthampton Saints236
3 George FordBath219
4 Gareth SteensonExeter Chiefs198
5 Shane GeraghtyLondon Irish164
6 Danny CiprianiSale Sharks163
7 Nick EvansHarlequins162
8 Greig LaidlawGloucester159
9 Freddie BurnsLeicester Tigers153
10 Charlie HodgsonSaracens152

Top try scorers

Season attendances

ClubHome
Games
TotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity
Bath12158,66513,22213,43012,75598%
Exeter Chiefs11112,41010,21912,6427,21883%
Gloucester11153,42513,94816,00012,35385%
Harlequins11222,45320,22382,00012,96795%
Leicester Tigers11246,62822,42124,00020,29893%
London Irish11145,60113,23666,1645,57533%
London Welsh1136,5073,3194,3572,15427%
Newcastle Falcons1172,5576,5969,1924,21665%
Northampton Saints12174,50814,54227,41113,36298%
Sale Sharks1173,2616,66011,2474,75356%
Saracens11229,91920,90284,0687,47389%
Wasps11164,55514,96032,0195,56861%