2014–15 Premiership Rugby
The 2014–15 Aviva Premiership was the 28th season of the top flight of English domestic rugby union competition, and the fifth to be sponsored by Aviva. The competition was broadcast by BT Sport for the second successive season, showing sixty-nine live matches. Highlights of each weekend's games were shown on ITV.
The reigning champions entering the season were Northampton Saints, who claimed their first title after defeating Saracens in the 2013–14 final. Northampton were unable to defend their title, as Saracens avenged their previous defeat with a 29–24 win in the play-off semi-final. Saracens – who finished fourth and only made the play-offs on the final day of the season – went on to win their second Premiership title, beating Bath 28–16 in the final.
Worcester Warriors, having finished bottom of the 2013–14 table, were relegated to the RFU Championship. They were replaced by London Welsh, who made an immediate return to the Premiership, having beaten Bristol in the 2013–14 RFU Championship play-off final. These places were reversed at the end of the season; London Welsh were relegated after losing all 22 games during the 2014–15 season and scoring just one point in the competition – the worst season statistically in the competition's history – while Worcester Warriors defeated Bristol 59–58 over the two-legged Championship play-off final.
Teams
Club | Coach | Captain | Stadium | Capacity | City/Area |
Bath | Mike Ford | Stuart Hooper | The Recreation Ground | 13,500 | Bath, Somerset |
Exeter Chiefs | Rob Baxter | Dean Mumm | Sandy Park | 12,300 | Exeter, Devon |
Gloucester | David Humphreys | Billy Twelvetrees | Kingsholm Stadium | 16,500 | Gloucester, Gloucestershire |
Harlequins | Conor O'Shea | Joe Marler | Twickenham Stoop | 14,816 | Twickenham, London |
Leicester Tigers | Richard Cockerill | Ed Slater | Welford Road | 24,000 | Leicester, Leicestershire |
London Irish | Brian Smith | George Skivington | Madejski Stadium | 24,161 | Reading, Berkshire |
London Welsh | Justin Burnell | Tom May | Kassam Stadium | 12,500 | Oxford, Oxfordshire |
Newcastle Falcons | Dean Richards | Will Welch | Kingston Park | 10,200 | Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear |
Northampton Saints | Jim Mallinder | Dylan Hartley | Franklin's Gardens | 13,591 | Northampton, Northamptonshire |
Sale Sharks | Bryan Redpath | Daniel Braid | AJ Bell Stadium | 12,000 | Salford, Greater Manchester |
Saracens | Mark McCall | Alistair Hargreaves | Allianz Park | 10,000 | Hendon, London |
Wasps | Dai Young | James Haskell | Adams Park Ricoh Arena | 10,516 32,609 | High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire Coventry, West Midlands |
;Notes
Table
Pre-season
The Premiership Rugby Sevens Series continued with the 2014 edition. In a change to the format, the series was expanded to include the four Welsh Regions. As a result, the series began on 26 July 2014, at the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park, continuing at Kingsholm, Franklin's Gardens and Kingston Park on 31 July, 1 August and 2 August 2014 respectively. The finals were on 8 August 2014 at the Twickenham Stoop. This was the first opportunity of the season for any of the teams competing in the Premiership to win a trophy.Gloucester won the series for the second year in the row, beating Newport Gwent Dragons 12–5 in the final to become the first team to retain the title. As Gloucester have already qualified for the World Club 7s at Twickenham, the place allocated to the winner of the final was given to Harlequins, as the next best performing English club.
Regular season
Fixtures for the season were announced by Premiership Rugby on 4 July and, as with previous seasons, Round 1 included the annual London Double Header. Fixtures as per Premiership Rugby . All matches following Round 9 were subject to change depending on the television picks for a given round.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 21
Round 22
Play-offs
Semi-finals
As with previous season, the top four teams contested the semi-finals in a 1st v 4th, 2nd v 3rd format.Final
Statistics
Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under WR 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
Rank | Player | Team | Points |
1 | Andy Goode | Wasps | 240 |
2 | Stephen Myler | Northampton Saints | 236 |
3 | George Ford | Bath | 219 |
4 | Gareth Steenson | Exeter Chiefs | 198 |
5 | Shane Geraghty | London Irish | 164 |
6 | Danny Cipriani | Sale Sharks | 163 |
7 | Nick Evans | Harlequins | 162 |
8 | Greig Laidlaw | Gloucester | 159 |
9 | Freddie Burns | Leicester Tigers | 153 |
10 | Charlie Hodgson | Saracens | 152 |
Top try scorers
Season attendances
- Attendances do not include the final at Twickenham.
Club | Home Games | Total | Average | Highest | Lowest | % Capacity |
Bath | 12 | 158,665 | 13,222 | 13,430 | 12,755 | 98% |
Exeter Chiefs | 11 | 112,410 | 10,219 | 12,642 | 7,218 | 83% |
Gloucester | 11 | 153,425 | 13,948 | 16,000 | 12,353 | 85% |
Harlequins | 11 | 222,453 | 20,223 | 82,000 | 12,967 | 95% |
Leicester Tigers | 11 | 246,628 | 22,421 | 24,000 | 20,298 | 93% |
London Irish | 11 | 145,601 | 13,236 | 66,164 | 5,575 | 33% |
London Welsh | 11 | 36,507 | 3,319 | 4,357 | 2,154 | 27% |
Newcastle Falcons | 11 | 72,557 | 6,596 | 9,192 | 4,216 | 65% |
Northampton Saints | 12 | 174,508 | 14,542 | 27,411 | 13,362 | 98% |
Sale Sharks | 11 | 73,261 | 6,660 | 11,247 | 4,753 | 56% |
Saracens | 11 | 229,919 | 20,902 | 84,068 | 7,473 | 89% |
Wasps | 11 | 164,555 | 14,960 | 32,019 | 5,568 | 61% |