Top level new cup contest to launch

Coventry executive chairman Jon Sharp has confirmed that a Premiership/Championship Cup will take place next season.

The new competition, which will be played at the start of the 2023/24 campaign, is something that Championship clubs have been after for some time.

It gives second-tier clubs a much more attractive fixture list and will replace the dud Championship Cup.

The cross-border competition will also fill a sizeable gap in the calendar as the league season at the top two levels is not due to start until the quarter-final stages of the Rugby World Cup.

Without this new event, clubs would have been facing five months without a home game which could have been ruinous in the current financial climate.

In an open letter appealing to fans to renew their season tickets early, the Coventry chairman wrote: “Next season will be the club’s biggest in recent memory (150th anniversary).

“In addition to the league programme there will be a Cup competition with all the Premiership and Championship clubs participating.

“Whilst the full details of the season structure are being worked out by the RFU, that will result in more games at Butts Park Arena that will be covered by your Season Membership and will produce some must-watch matches.”

The latest proposal put to clubs was to have four pools with six clubs in each, meaning five guaranteed games with a semi-final and final on top for the pool stage winners.

One downside for Championship clubs is that the new Cup competition would see the league season running until the end of May. Also, if rumours of a 14-team Championship next season are accurate – with London Scottish getting a reprieve from relegation and Wasps joining the National 1 winners in entering the division – clubs will be looking at a minimum 31-game season.