Aviva Premiership Rugby 2010/11 - Season structure

The 12 clubs in Aviva Premiership Rugby are:

Bath Rugby, Exeter Chiefs, Gloucester Rugby, Harlequins, Leeds Carnegie, Leicester Tigers, London Irish, London Wasps, Newcastle Falcons, Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks and Saracens.

Aviva Premiership Rugby commences on the weekend of 3rd/4th/5th September 2010.

During Aviva Premiership Rugby points will be awarded as follows:

- 4 points will be awarded for a win
- 2 points will be awarded for a draw
- 1 point will be awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or less
- 1 point will be awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match

The Aviva Premiership Rugby semi-final and Final

Aviva Premiership Rugby consists of 22 rounds with round 22 taking place on Saturday 7th May 2011.

The club that tops the Aviva Premiership Rugby table after round 22 will automatically qualify for home advantage in the Aviva Premiership Rugby semi-final against the club that finishes fourth. The club that finishes second will qualify for home advantage in the other Aviva Premiership Rugby semi-final against the club that finishes third.

The two Aviva Premiership Rugby semi-final matches will take place over the weekend of 15th/16th May 2011 and the winning clubs will go forward to the prestigious Aviva Premiership Rugby Final at Twickenham on Saturday 28th May 2011.

The club that wins the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final will be Aviva Premiership Rugby Champions.

European Qualification

Qualification for the Heineken Cup will be as follows based on results from the 2010/11 season:

• Heineken Cup Winner (if an Aviva Premiership Rugby club)
• European Challenge Cup Winner (if an Aviva Premiership Rugby club)
• Aviva Premiership Rugby Final winner
• Aviva Premiership Rugby Final runner-up
• Aviva Premiership Rugby semi-finalist
• Aviva Premiership Rugby semi-finalist
• Anglo Welsh Cup winner (if an Aviva Premiership Rugby club)
• Aviva Premiership Rugby fifth place
• Aviva Premiership Rugby sixth place
• Aviva Premiership Rugby seventh place

Those clubs not involved in the Heineken Cup will play in the European Challenge Cup.

Promotion/Relegation

As in previous seasons there will be automatic promotion and relegation between the club that finishes bottom of Aviva Premiership Rugby after 22 rounds and the club that wins the RFU Championship.

As in previous seasons this is dependent on the Minimum Standards Criteria which require certain minimum standards to be met across all areas of a professional club's business.