2019–20 Premiership Rugby


The 2019–20 Premiership Rugby is the 33rd season of the top flight of English domestic rugby union competition and the second to be sponsored by Gallagher. The competition is being broadcast by BT Sport for the seventh successive season with five games also simulcast free-to-air on Channel 5. Highlights of each weekend's games are shown on Channel 5 with extended highlights on BT Sport. The reigning champions entering the season are Saracens, who claimed their fifth title after defeating Exeter Chiefs in the 2019 final. London Irish were promoted as champions from the 2018–19 RFU Championship at the first attempt.
Due to changes to the global rugby calendar and the COVID-19 pandemic this season started later and will finish later than previous seasons.
On 5 November 2019, Premiership Rugby announced that Saracens would be deducted 35 points in the current season and fined £5.3 million due to undisclosed payments to players in previous seasons. Saracens initially said they would appeal the ruling, but on 18 November announced that they accepted the punishments, with the deduction leaving them 26 points adrift at the bottom of the table. After further failure to comply with the salary cap, Saracens were announced to be automatically relegated at the end of the season on 18 January 2020. On 28 January 2020 this was confirmed with the application of a further 70 point deduction.
On 16 March 2020, the league was suspended for an initial five week period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Resumption was scheduled for weekend of 24/25/26 April but has since been postponed indefinitely. Restart is now scheduled for 14 August.

Teams

, having won the 2018–19 RFU Championship, replaced Newcastle Falcons, who were relegated last season after finishing bottom of the table.
ClubDirector of Rugby/Head CoachCaptainKit supplierStadiumCapacityCity/Area
Bath Stuart Hooper Charlie EwelsCanterburyThe Recreation Ground14,509Bath
Bristol Bears/ Pat Lam Steve LuatuaBristol SportAshton Gate27,000Bristol
Exeter Chiefs Rob Baxter Jack YeandleSamurai SportswearSandy Park13,593Exeter
Gloucester George Skivington Willi HeinzElite Pro SportsKingsholm Stadium16,115Gloucester
Harlequins Paul Gustard
Billy Millard		 Chris RobshawAdidasTwickenham Stoop14,800Twickenham, Greater London
Leicester Tigers Geordan Murphy Tom YoungsKukriWelford Road25,849Leicester
London Irish Declan Kidney Blair CowanBLKTwickenham Stoop14,800Twickenham, Greater London
Northampton Saints Chris Boyd
Alex Waller		MacronFranklin's Gardens15,200Northampton
Sale Sharks Steve Diamond Jono RossSamurai SportswearAJ Bell Stadium12,000Salford, Greater Manchester
Saracens Mark McCall Brad BarrittNikeAllianz Park8,500Hendon, Greater London
Wasps Lee BlackettUnder ArmourRicoh Arena32,609Coventry
Worcester Warriors Alan Solomons Ted Hill
Will Butler
Matt Moulds 		VX3Sixways Stadium11,499Worcester

Pre-season

The 2019 edition of the Premiership Rugby Sevens Series was held at Franklin's Gardens on 13 and 14 September, 2019. For the third successive year all twelve Premiership teams would feature in one venue over two days. Teams would be split into four pools of three which played each other once in a round-robin basis with the tournament splitting into Cup and Plate competitions on the second day.
In a repeat of the 2018 final, Saracens beat Wasps 35-19 to win the 2019 Premiership Sevens Cup. Gloucester beat Sale Sharks to win the Plate. It was the third successive year Wasps had made the cup final of the competition.

Table

Fixtures

Fixtures for the season were announced by Premiership Rugby on 10 July, 2019. Due to the Rugby World Cup, the first round of matches commenced during the fifth week of the season, following four rounds of the Premiership Cup. The London Double Header does not feature after being discontinued last year.
Highlights of the season include:
All fixtures are subject to change.

Regular Season

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

Following round 13, the league was suspended until 14 August due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England.

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Play-offs

As in previous seasons, the top four teams in the Premiership table, following the conclusion of the regular season, contest the play-off semi-finals in a 1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd format, with the higher ranking team having home advantage. The two winners of the semi-finals then meet in the Premiership Grand Final on 24 October 2020.

Leading scorers

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

Most points

Source:
RankPlayerClubPoints
1 Marcus SmithHarlequins126
2 Callum SheedyBristol122
3 Robert du PreezSale116
4 Rhys PriestlandBath111
5 Joe SimmondsExeter93
6 Duncan WeirWorcester91
7 James GraysonNorthampton89
8 Stephen MylerLondon Irish74
9 Gareth SteensonExeter65
10 Jimmy GopperthWasps61
10 Billy TwelvetreesGloucester61

Most tries

Source:
RankPlayerClubTries
1 Ben EarlSaracens7
1 Ollie Hassell-CollinsLondon Irish7
1 Zach KibirigeWasps7
1 Luke MorahanBristol7
1 Louis Rees-ZammitGloucester7
6 Perry HumphreysWorcester5
6 Gabriel IbitoyeHarlequins5
6 Tom MarshallGloucester5
6 Byron McGuiganSale5
6 Zach MercerBath5
6 Cadan MurleyHarlequins5
6 Cobus ReinachNorthampton5
6 Sam SimmondsExeter5
6 Nick TompkinsSaracens5
6 Marland YardeSale5

Season attendances

By club

ClubHome
Games		TotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity
Bath799,74714,25014,50913,97698%
Bristol Bears7125,41317,91626,39912,86766%
Exeter Chiefs786,88812,41313,59311,01593%
Gloucester683,06713,84516,11512,84486%
Harlequins7158,88522,69875,50013,00694%
Leicester Tigers6118,73919,79023,35317,55977%
London Irish634,9955,8339,2593,62224%
Northampton Saints796,04013,72015,20011,41290%
Sale Sharks643,0517,1758,5795,95160%
Saracens643,8147,3028,5006,29386%
Wasps681,41513,56924,8429,50342%
Worcester Warriors760,4558,63611,4997,29775%

Highest attendances