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2018–19 Greene King IPA Championship
Countries	England  Jersey
Date	31 August 2018 – 27 April 2019
Champions	London Irish (2nd title)
Runners-up	Ealing Trailfinders
Relegated	Richmond
Matches played	132
Attendance	226,061 (average 1,713 per match)
Highest attendance	10,106 London Irish v Doncaster Knights 23 March 2019
Lowest attendance	602 Richmond v Hartpury 29 September 2018
Tries scored	913 (average 6.9 per match)
Top point scorer	Shane O'Leary (Nottingham) 186 points
Top try scorer	Dean Adamson (Bedford Blues) 16 tries
← 2017–182019–20 →

The 2018–19 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, is the tenth season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, the second tier of the English rugby union league system run by the Rugby Football Union. It is contested by eleven English clubs and one from Jersey in the Channel Islands. Greene King sponsors the competition for a sixth successive season. Clubs in the league also competed in the inaugural RFU Championship Cup.

On 19 April 2019 London Irish were declared champions with a round to go, following an emphatic win away against struggling Richmond, claiming promotion back to the Premiership for the 2019–20 season, in what was their second Championship title in three seasons. The next day (20 April), Richmond were relegated following relegation rivals Hartpury's victory at home against London Scottish. Richmond would drop to the 2019–20 National League 1.

Coventry had the best campaign of a promoted club since the Championship's inception back in 2009–10 (regular season only), amassing 51 points on the way to an 8th-place finish - surpassing London Scottish's 45 point, 8th-place finish back in 2011–12.

Structure

The Championship's structure has all the teams playing each other on a home and away basis. The first placed team in the competition is promoted to the Premiership; providing that club's ground fulfills the Rugby Football Union's Minimum Standards Criteria while the bottom side is relegated to National League 1. As part of an agreement with the RFU, each club will receive £530,000 funding. The British and Irish Cup, which the RFU Championship clubs played in with Welsh and Irish clubs, was scrapped due to the Championship clubs withdrawing and is to be replaced by a new cup competition – the RFU Championship Cup.

Teams

On 24 March 2018 Rotherham Titans were relegated with three games to go, after losing away to Jersey Reds. Despite seeing some improvements in the second half of the season, the Yorkshire club were easily the weakest side in the division, dropping to 2018–19 National League 1, the lowest level the club have played for fourteen seasons. Promoted in their place were the winners of 2017–18 National League 1, Coventry, who return to the second tier for the first time since being relegated at the end of the 2009–10 season.

On 7 April 2018 Bristol were crowned champions of the 2017–18 season with two games to go following title rivals Ealing Trailfinders defeat that day to Doncaster Knights. They were therefore promoted to Premiership Rugby. In winning the championship Bristol also became the most decorated tier 2 side in English league history with four league titles to-date. They are replaced by London Irish who return to the Championship after just one year in the Premiership.

Table

1. Number of matches won
2. Difference between points for and against
3. Total number of points for
4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled

Fixtures & Results

Fixtures for the season were announced by the RFU on 22 June 2018.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

• Postponed. Game to be rescheduled for 3 November 2018.

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 3 (rescheduled game)

• Game rescheduled from 16 September 2018.

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

• London Irish are champions. Richmond are relegated following Hartpury's victory on 20 April.

Round 22

Attendances

Individual statistics

• Note that points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Appearance figures also include coming on as substitutes (unused substitutes not included).

Top points scorers Rank Player Team Appearances Points 1 Shane O'Leary Nottingham 186 2 Rob Kirby Richmond 158 3 Will Maisey Coventry 134 4 Peter Lydon Ealing Trailfinders 128 5 Brett Herron Jersey Reds 116 6 Will Cargill Cornish Pirates 115 7 Rory Jennings London Scottish 107 8 Dougie Flockhart Doncaster Knights 103 9 Stephen Myler London Irish 97 10 Will Hooley Bedford Blues 89 Jake Sharp Bedford Blues / Coventry 89

Top try scorers Rank Player Team Appearances Tries 1 Dean Adamson Bedford Blues 16 2 Ryan Hutler Bedford Blues 14 Rob Stevenson London Scottish 14 3 James Cordy-Redden Ealing Trailfinders 12 Charlie Ingall London Scottish 12 Dan Temm Yorkshire Carnegie 12 4 Miles Mantella London Scottish 11 Kyle Moyle Cornish Pirates 11 Robin Wedlake Cornish Pirates 11 5 Tom James Doncaster Knights 10 Luc Jones Richmond 10 Dave Porecki London Irish 10 Rayn Smid Ealing Trailfinders 10 David Williams Nottingham 10

Season records

Notes

1. Trailfinders Sports Ground capacity raised from 3,020 (1,200 seats) to 4,000 (2,200 seats) on 3 February 2019.
2. Although Madejski's full capacity is 24,161, for most matches only the West Stand will be open with capacity of 7,579.
3. Jersey Reds' round 3 home game against London Irish was rescheduled to 3 November due to its proximity to Jersey International Air Display making availability of air transport and accommodation difficult.

References

1. "Greene King to be title sponsors of RFU Championship". The Rugby Paper. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
2. "Championship Cup competition announced". RFU. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
3. ^ "London Irish: Club secure Championship title and promotion with win at Richmond". BBC Sport. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
4. ^ "Pack power gets Hartpury across the line to safety". The RUGBYPaper. No. 553. Rugby Paper Ltd. 21 April 2019. p. 22.
5. "Premiership: RFU Championship promotion play-off scrapped". BBC Sport. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
6. "Championship play-offs to be scrapped with top team promoted automatically". Sky Sports. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
7. "'The RFU Championship has become the wild west of professional rugby'". The Guardian. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
8. "Indy exclusive: British and Irish Cup to be binned and replaced with a new cup". Independent. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
9. "British and Irish Cup to be scrapped as English Championship clubs withdraw". BBC Sport. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
10. "Titans officially relegated after defeat". Rotherham Advertiser. 24 March 2018.
11. "Coventry defeat Caldy to claim National League one title and secure Championship rugby next season". Coventry Telegraph. 17 March 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
12. "Champions! Bristol Rugby win promotion to the Aviva Premiership". Bristol Post. 7 April 2018.
13. "London Irish relegated from Premiership after one season back in top flight". BBC Sport. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
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16. ^ "Reds confirm home fixture dates". Jersey Reds. Jersey Reds. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
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35. "Weekend referees, ARs and TMOs – 22–24 March". RugbyReferee.net. 21 March 2019.
36. "RFU Championship". The RUGBYPaper. No. 549. Rugby Paper Ltd. 24 March 2019. pp. 28–29 & 46.
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40. ^ "RFU Championship". The RUGBYPaper. No. 554. Rugby Paper Ltd. 28 April 2019. pp. 24–25 & 34.
41. ^ "Championship 18/19 Home attendances". Rugby Statbunker. 27 April 2019.
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• 2018–19 RFU Championship
• 2018–19 in English rugby union leagues
• RFU Championship seasons