Champ sides to battle Prem as new cup fixtures confirmed

Premiership Rugby has released the fixtures for the revamped 2023-24 Premiership Rugby Cup, set to commence in September.

This edition will introduce a novel element, with Premiership Rugby teams facing off against their counterparts from the Championship. This partnership with the RFU clubs allows players to vie for positions at the beginning of the Gallagher Premiership Rugby and Championship seasons.

The pool stage matches will begin on the weekend of September 8-10, featuring an opening clash between Bath and Cornish Pirates. The first televised game of the season will witness Northampton Saints traveling to West London to compete against Ealing Trailfinders, airing live on TNT Sports at 1pm on Sunday, September 10. Additionally, Leicester Tigers will kick-start their campaign against Caldy, the impressive Championship giant-killers from the previous season, at Mattioli Woods Welford Road. Reigning Gallagher Premiership Rugby champions Saracens will embark on their journey with a game in Coventry.

Subsequently, four rounds of fixtures will follow on consecutive weekends from September 15-17 to October 6-8. The winners of each pool will advance to the semi-finals, with the two highest-ranked teams earning the privilege of hosting the semi-final matches. Notably, the semi-finals have been rescheduled to take place on the weekend of February 16-18, while the final will occur on the weekend of March 15-17. The Premiership Rugby Cup Final will be held at the venue of the highest-ranked club competing in the final.

The 22 teams are split into four seeded pools – two of six teams (Pool A & Pool B), two of five teams (Pool C & Pool D) – with the seedings based on league standings at the end of the 2022-23 season*.

The teams in Pools C and D will play one cross-pool fixture alongside their own pool games.

For the competition format, pools and the full list of fixtures, please visit here:

*The Championship club seeded 11, London Scottish, and seed 12 Cambridge who were promoted from National One were swapped with Nottingham and Caldy, seeded 9 and 10. The higher seeds therefore host a home fixture against a Premiership club.

Leicester Tigers and Exeter Chiefs also swap pools for operational reasons.

FIXTURES TELEVISED ON TNT SPORTS:

Round 1 – Sunday, September 10, 1pm – Ealing Trailfinders v Northampton Saints

Round 2 – Saturday, September 16, 1pm – Bath v Jersey Reds

Round 3 – Friday, September 22, 7.45pm – Gloucester v Harlequins

Round 4 – Sunday, October 1, 2.30pm – Harlequins v Saracens

Round 5 – Sunday, October 8, 2pm – To be picked after the first two rounds