Championship promotion to be streamlined
Rugby Football Union and the Championship Clubs Committee have agreed on a new format for next season's RFU Championship.
The revised structure sees the 12 clubs compete in a league season across 22 rounds, with the bottom club relegated to SSE National League One while the top four will go on to compete in two-legged semi-finals, which will be followed by a two-legged final.
The system for the recently-completed season saw the top eight sides after the 22 matches go into the promotion play-offs and the remaining four teams in the relegation play-offs.
The new structure will provide 11 home games for the Championship clubs and a minimum of six games in the revised British and Irish Cup.
"The reduction from an eight team promotion play-off to four will ultimately reward those clubs who best perform across the season, whilst encouraging a hugely competitive league to reach the top four," said the RFU's professional rugby director, Rob Andrew.
"The amended structure also shows a further commitment to the British and Irish Cup which will include six pool matches played on a similar format to ERC competitions."
Geoff Irvine, chairman of the Championship Clubs, said: "The clubs believe these changes will improve the competition, providing quality rather than quantity of fixtures. It should also help with congestion of fixtures which results in player welfare issues."
