The Championship

Headingley was the scene for the latest upset in what is proving to be a fascinating second tier competition, writes Richard Grainger.
The penultimate week the Championship’s Stage One saw Leeds lose 22-24 at home to bottom-placed Esher on Sunday, a reversal which virtually ends Leeds’ Premiership dreams for this season. Of course, the Yorkshire side, currently in seventh place,…

With wintry conditions decimating the Championship’s week 20 programme once again, at least one thing was decided – no one can catch Bristol in Stage One, writes Richard Grainger.
Bristol romped home 48-13 winners in front of 4322 at the Memorial Stadium to secure a bonus point win and dash any hopes that Moseley might have held of completing the double…

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UP – ROUND 20…or not…as was the case.
With a fairness seldom seen in any sport, the return of winter managed to wipe out the entire Championship programme last weekend, writes Richard Grainger.
And with foresight not normally attributable to the RFU, this weekend was left as a reserve date, should it be necessary for any clubs to catch up on…

This week’s Championship round-up takes a look at the British & Irish Cup as all but two of the division’s sides had a welcome day off, writes Richard Grainger.
The two remaining sides in the competition met west of the Tamar on Sunday as Nottingham made their second visit to Cornwall within two weeks. With Premiership aspirations very much at the…

Results from the second tier of England Rugby’s professional structure continue to be as difficult to predict as an English winter, writes Richard Grainger.
With only four rounds remaining in Stage One, it is still a mathematical possibility than all bar one of the 12 clubs could make the promotion play-offs. Although Esher are adrift at the bottom with only…

Moseley and Leeds accumulated 74 points at Billesley Common last Saturday in a post-Christmas cracker from which both teams took a try bonus point, writes Richard Grainger.
However, It was the visitors who took maximum points with six tries, all converted by Tommy Bell to seal a pulsating 32-42 win, orchestrated by loan-star George Ford at fly-half.
Ford, brother of Joe and…

During the week when most of us were contemplating resolutions and festive excesses, Pete Drewett was left to ponder his rugby future having resigned as Director of Rugby at Plymouth Albion, writes Richard Grainger.
Drewett, the former Head Coach at Exeter Chiefs, and his assistant Phil Greening had been at the helm at Brickfields for less than a month, having replaced…

With nine outings remaining in the first round of the Championship, the 14-point gap between  eight promotion hopefuls and the four teams fighting to avoid relegation, is beginning to look significant, writes Richard Grainger.
For Esher, desperate to avoid bottom spot, their drab weekend began on Friday night at Molesey Road. Coach Mike Schmid felt that referee Llyr ApGeraint Roberts’s inconsistency…