2015–16 Premiership Rugby


The 2015–16 English Premiership was the 29th season of the top flight of English domestic rugby union competition, and the sixth to be sponsored by Aviva. The competition began slightly later than normal, due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup taking place in England, and was broadcast by BT Sport for the third successive season. Highlights of each weekend's games were shown on ITV4. The 2015 London Double Header games at Twickenham were played at round 5 instead of round 1.
The reigning champions entering the season were Saracens, who had claimed their second title after defeating Bath in the 2014–15 final. Saracens defended their title – becoming the first team to do since Leicester Tigers in 2008–09 and 2009–10 – with a 28–20 win over the Exeter Chiefs at Twickenham. The Chiefs, who made the playoffs for the first time in their history, had the top points scorer Gareth Steenson, and top try scorer Thomas Waldrom in the competition.
With their title win, Saracens sealed a European–league double – having won the 2016 European Rugby Champions Cup Final a fortnight prior, against Racing 92 – the first English team to do so since Wasps in 2004. London Irish were relegated to the 2016–17 RFU Championship with a round to spare, after losing 32–25 to Harlequins. They will be replaced by 2015–16 RFU Championship winners Bristol, who beat Doncaster Knights 60–47 in the two-legged play-off final.

Rule changes

Salary cap

This season was the first for several significant changes to the Premiership's salary cap regulations:
In addition to the above, a standard cap provision applicable only in Rugby World Cup years gave each club a £35,000 cap credit for each member of the senior squad who participated in the tournament.

Teams

, having beaten Bristol 59–58 on aggregate in the Greene King IPA Championship play-off final, replaced London Welsh, who finished last season having not won a single game.
ClubCoachCaptainStadiumCapacityCity/Area
Bath Mike Ford Stuart HooperThe Recreation Ground13,516Bath, Somerset
Exeter Chiefs Rob Baxter Jack YeandleSandy Park12,300Exeter, Devon
Gloucester David Humphreys Billy TwelvetreesKingsholm Stadium16,121Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Harlequins Conor O'Shea Danny CareTwickenham Stoop14,816Twickenham, Greater London
Leicester Tigers Richard Cockerill Ed SlaterWelford Road25,800Leicester, Leicestershire
London Irish Tom Coventry George Skivington
Luke Narraway		Madejski Stadium24,161Reading, Berkshire
Newcastle Falcons John Wells Will WelchKingston Park10,200Newcastle, Tyne and Wear
Northampton Saints Jim Mallinder Lee DicksonFranklin's Gardens15,500Northampton, Northamptonshire
Sale Sharks Steve Diamond Daniel BraidAJ Bell Stadium12,000Salford, Greater Manchester
Saracens Mark McCall Brad BarrittAllianz Park10,000Hendon, Greater London
Wasps Dai Young James Haskell
Matt Mullan		Ricoh Arena32,609Coventry, West Midlands
Worcester Warriors Dean Ryan Gerrit-Jan van VelzeSixways Stadium12,024Worcester, Worcestershire

Table

Pre-season

The 2015 edition of the Singha Premiership Rugby Sevens was held in August. Once again, the four Welsh Regions contested a group, alongside the twelve Premiership clubs, which were split into three groups. The top two sides from each group contested the series final at the Twickenham Stoop on 28 August. The series was won by Welsh region Newport Gwent Dragons who beat Premiership side Wasps in the final.

Regular season

Fixtures for the season were announced by Premiership Rugby at 11am on 3 July 2015. Unlike previous seasons, the London Double Header would not take place in round 1 because Twickenham Stadium was being used for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, but would instead take place during round 5, on 28 November 2015.
One game during this season was played on foreign soil, in the United States. The London Irish v Saracens match – played in [|Round 16] on 12 March 2016 – took place at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.

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 9 rescheduled match

This match – originally scheduled to be held during Round 9, on 8 January 2016 – was postponed due to a European Rugby Champions Cup fixture rearrangement that occurred as a result of the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015. It was further rescheduled from 13 April 2016, after Sale Sharks were eliminated from the European Rugby Challenge Cup.

Round 21

Round 22

Play-offs

Semi-finals

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

Final

Leading scorers

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby 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

RankPlayerClubPoints
1 Gareth SteensonExeter Chiefs258
2 Jimmy GopperthWasps185
3 Danny CiprianiSale Sharks182
4 Stephen MylerNorthampton Saints173
5 Charlie HodgsonSaracens154
6 Nick EvansHarlequins153
7 Tom HeathcoteWorcester Warriors143
8 Ben BoticaHarlequins129
9 Owen FarrellSaracens122
10 James HookGloucester118

Top try scorers

RankPlayerClubTries
1 Thomas WaldromExeter Chiefs13
2 Semesa RokoduguniBath12
2 Christian WadeWasps12
4 Chris AshtonSaracens11
5 Charlie WalkerHarlequins10
6 Frank HalaiWasps9
6 Nili LatuNewcastle Falcons9
6 James ShortExeter Chiefs9
6 Telusa VeainuLeicester Tigers9
6 Tim VisserHarlequins9
6 Cooper VunaWorcester Warriors9

Season attendances

By club

ClubHome
Games		TotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity
Bath11145,53713,23113,56212,68498%
Exeter Chiefs12133,91211,15912,6127,13089%
Gloucester11152,73813,88516,11511,09584%
Harlequins11212,37619,30770,71812,15795%
Leicester Tigers11239,46921,77025,84917,51086%
London Irish11130,16711,83342,6805,54137%
Newcastle Falcons 1171,1916,4727,7565,04963%
Northampton Saints11170,21515,47420,03414,24694%
Sale Sharks1167,6676,1527,6874,23651%
Saracens12214,96917,91480,6507,23188%
Wasps11165,55715,05124,05310,09346%
Worcester Warriors1199,4589,04210,7277,15675%

Highest attendances

Home clubAway clubStadiumAttendance
SaracensHarlequinsWembley Stadium80,650
HarlequinsGloucesterTwickenham Stadium70,718
Saracens
London Irish		Worcester
Wasps		Twickenham Stadium42,680
LeicesterNorthamptonWelford Road25,849
WaspsSaracensRicoh Arena24,053
LeicesterLondon IrishWelford Road23,173
LeicesterSaleWelford Road22,737
LeicesterBathWelford Road22,530
LeicesterSaracensWelford Road22,282
LeicesterGloucesterWelford Road22,223
WaspsLeicesterRicoh Arena22,241
LeicesterWorcesterWelford Road21,682
LeicesterNewcastleWelford Road21,564
LeicesterExeterWelford Road20,173
NorthamptonNewcastleStadium mk20,034
LeicesterWaspsWelford Road19,746
London IrishGloucesterMadejski Stadium17,752
LeicesterHarlequinsWelford Road17,510
WaspsNorthamptonRicoh Arena17,422
WaspsLondon IrishRicoh Arena16,902
GloucesterLondon IrishKingsholm Stadium16,115
GloucesterLeicesterKingsholm Stadium16,115
GloucesterBathKingsholm Stadium16,115
GloucesterNorthamptonKingsholm Stadium16,115