RFU unveil new-look Champ Rugby

NEWS: English rugby’s second tier will be rebranded Champ Rugby from next season and feature a six-team play-off system to determine a candidate for promotion.

Revealed by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) on Thursday, the 14-team league for next season will include the 12 current clubs, a re-formed Worcester, which went bust and dropped out of the Premiership in 2022, and Richmond, champions of the third-tier National League this season.

The rebrand sees the name of the competition change from the Championship and the introduction of a bold black, white, and green visual identity.

New look. New format.

THIS is Champ Rugby 👊 #ChampRugby pic.twitter.com/zUAdALljxz

— Championship Rugby (@Champrugby) May 15, 2025

The division’s 14 sides will play each other home and away, with the top six progressing to play-offs for the title and the right to face – and replace – the Premiership’s bottom team.

Ealing Trailfinders and others have routinely been kept out of the top tier by strict rules that demand a phased ground capacity of 10 001, or evidence of plans to be able to introduce such a development, as well as other financial commitments.

The clubs have argued that it is unreasonable and unrealistic to expect them to spend huge amounts on plans, let alone development, to reach a capacity they might never need.

Conor O’Shea, the RFU’s director of performance rugby, said there were “grown-up conversations” taking place about funding but said he saw the relaunch as part of a potentially glorious period for English rugby with the Champ playing a hugely important part in the development of young players.

“Our focus is the step change we want to make in the Champ. It’s already a great competition, but we want all the standards across the board to grow,” he said.

New rules will mean 18 players in a matchday squad must be English-qualified, with an allowance of six players per matchday squad dual-registered with a Premiership club.

The launch promotion highlighted how several of the new British and Irish Lions squad cut their teeth in the second tier, with Northampton’s breakthrough star Henry Pollock playing for Bedford last season.

“Henry is the first cab off the rank of three to four generational players,” O’Shea said. “Our job is to create the structure for the players to fulfil their talent. This is going to be a very special time if we get it right.”