EDF Energy Cup

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For current news on this topic see: 2006-07 EDF Energy Cup

EDF Energy Cup
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	1971
No. of teams	16
Country	England  Wales
Current champions	London Wasps

The EDF Energy Cup, also known as the Anglo-Welsh Cup an the English & Welsh rugby union knock-out cup competition featuring all 12 Guinness Premiership clubs and all 4 Welsh Regions. Prior to the 2005-06 season, the competition was open to all English clubs. Bath have won it ten times, twice as many as the second most successful club, Leicester Tigers. The current champions are the London Wasps, who defeated the Llanelli Scarlets in the 2005-06 tournament.

Contents 1 Sponsorship 2 1971-2005 3 Anglo-Welsh Cup 4 Pools 5 List of winners 5.1 By year 5.1.1 John Player Cup 5.1.2 Pilkington Cup 5.1.3 Tetley's Bitter Cup 5.1.4 Powergen Cup 5.1.5 Powergen Anglo Welsh Cup 5.1.6 EDF Energy (Anglo Welsh) Cup 5.2 By number won 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Sponsorship

• John Player Cup
  • (1972-1988)
• Pilkington Cup
  • (1989-1997)
• Tetley's Bitter Cup
  • (1998-2000)
• Powergen Cup
  • (2001-2005)
• EDF Energy Cup
  • (2006-)

[edit] 1971-2005

Known as the John Player Cup, the first competition took place in 1972, and Gloucester were crowned inaugural champions, defeating Moseley in the final, 17 to 6. Coventry won two titles in succession in 1973 and 1974, and after Bedford's championship win in 1975, Gosforth also won two in succession, in 1976 and 1977. Gloucester won their second title in 1978. The competition was then dominated by Leicester, who won three championships in a row, until Gloucester won their third title in 1982. Leicester were again in the final in 1983, but lost to Bristol. Leicester's record run was then broken by Bath from 1984-87, who won the John Player Cup four times in a row, until Harlequins won their first in 1988.

The name of the cup was changed to the Pilkington Cup for the 1989 tournament. Bath picked up from where they left of in the late 1980s, going onto win another six times from 1989-1997. The Harlequins won their second title in 1991, and Leicester added to their three championships in 1993 and again in 1997. The cup changed is name again after Leicesters' 1997 victory, becoming the Tetley's Bitter Cup for the 1998 season. The Saracens won their first title, defeating Wasps FC in 1998. The Wasps were again in the final in 1999, and defeated Newcastle to claim their first championship. The Wasps also won the 2000 competition.

In 2001 the name of the tournament was changed to the Powergen Cup. Newcastle won the first Powergen Cup, defeating the Harlequins 30-27. The London Irish won it for their first time the following season, and Gloucester won it for the first time since 1982. Newcastle won in 2004, and in 2005 the Leeds Tykes defeated Bath to win it for the first time.

[edit] Anglo-Welsh Cup

Starting in 2005-06, the cup featured a new format including only the twelve teams from the Guinness Premiership and the four regional Welsh clubs. Teams from National Division One and below now play for the Powergen National Trophy.

In place of the knock-out format, the 16 sixteen clubs are placed in four pools with 3 English clubs and 1 Welsh club. The pool stages of the Anglo-Welsh Cup tournament feature one game against each team. The winners of each of the four groups progress to the semi-finals. The pools will stay as they are for the following season as well, with home and away fixtures reversed and the club relegated from the Guinness Premiership's place taken by the club promoted from National Division One.

In addition to increased TV revenue (the revised Powergen Cup has already inked a handsome new broadcasting agreement with the BBC) and a possible boost to matchday income, the Powergen Cup will also offer its winner qualification to the even more lucrative Heineken Cup club competition. As base compensation all 16 Powergen clubs are guaranteed £250,000 each, with a prize fund of up to £200,000 available to the semi-finalists.^[1]

The Welsh clubs' inclusion initially caused them to be expelled from the Celtic League. Celtic League officials were angered that the Welsh Clubs had apparently consented to Powergen Cup fixtures on the same weekend of Celtic League matches. The political fallout resulted in the expulsion of the Welsh clubs from the league. Eventually, a compromise was reached, and the Welsh clubs were readmitted.

Many rugby union commentators see the Powergen Cup as a boon to Wales as it reinforces their regional club structure begun in 2003 when Wales began the regional structure common to southern hemisphere powers such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. (See the Observer, "Fine for the Welsh, but at what cost to England?", 25 Sept. 2005). But the benefits are less apparent to the English clubs, especially as the breakdown between Twickenham and the Guinness Premiership clubs intensifies.

Interest in the Powergen Cup was high during the first two rounds. Over 100,000 spectators attend matches, while the television audience peaked at 1.2 million on BBC2 for the Newcastle Falcons v. Llanelli Scarlets match.[1] Overall, the 2005-2006 cup drew a 12% attendance boost in the group stages over the previous year's competition.^[2]

Unfortunately, Powergen decided to withdraw all of its rugby sponsorship after the conclusion of the 2005-2006 cup competitions. This decision was made after its parent company, German utility E.ON became a founding partner and lead sponsor of the FA and the new Wembley Stadium, and Powergen will thus align its corporate sponsorships along with its corporate parent.^[3]

On August 1, 2006 the RFU announced that the new sponsor of the Anglo-Welsh Cup would be EDF Energy, one of Great Britain's largest distributors of electricity and gas.^[4] EDF Energy will also take over sponsorship of the Powergen National Trophy as well as the primarily amateur and youth club competitions, the Intermediate Cup, the Junior Vase and a new Senior Vase competition.

EDF Energy's sponsorship of the Anglo-Welsh event follows on their previous investment in rugby union, including sponsorship of the 2007 World Cup and the French Top 14. The pools (or groups) for the Powergen Cup were decided on a regional basis, comprising of three English sides geographically close to one another, and one Welsh club again divided as far as possible by their location. Pools for 2005-06 and 2006-07 Powergen Cups are as follows:-

[edit] Pools

Pool A: Gloucester, Bristol, Bath, Ospreys

Pool B: London Irish, Wasps, Saracens, Cardiff Blues

Pool C: Sale Sharks, Newcastle Falcons, NEC Harlequins, Llanelli Scarlets

Pool D: Leicester Tigers, Worcester Warriors, Northampton Saints, Newport Gwent Dragons

Note: NEC Harlequins replaced Leeds Tykes for the 2006-07 season when Leeds were relegated from the Premiership and Harlequins were promoted from National Division 1.

[edit] List of winners

[edit] By year

[edit] John Player Cup

• 1972 Gloucester 17 - 6 against Moseley
• 1973 Coventry 27 - 15 against Bristol
• 1974 Coventry 26 - 6 against London Scottish
• 1975 Bedford 28 - 12 against Rosslyn Park
• 1976 Gosforth 23 - 14 against Rosslyn Park
• 1977 Gosforth 27 - 11 against Waterloo
• 1978 Gloucester RFC 6 - 3 against Leicester
• 1979 Leicester 15 - 12 against Moseley
• 1980 Leicester 21 - 9 against London Irish
• 1981 Leicester 22 - 15 against Gosforth
• 1982 Gloucester RFC and Moseley (shared) 12 - 12
• 1983 Bristol 28 - 22 against Leicester
• 1984 Bath 10 - 9 against Bristol
• 1985 Bath 24 - 15 against London Welsh
• 1986 Bath 25 - 17 against Wasps FC
• 1987 Bath 19 - 12 against Wasps FC
• 1988 Harlequins 28 - 22 against Bristol

[edit] Pilkington Cup

• 1989 Bath 10 - 6 against Leicester
• 1990 Bath 48 - 6 against Gloucester
• 1991 Harlequins 25 - 13 against Northampton
• 1992 Bath 15 - 12 against Harlequins
• 1993 Leicester 23 - 16 against Harlequins
• 1994 Bath 21 - 9 against Leicester
• 1995 Bath 36 - 16 against Wasps FC
• 1996 Bath 16 - 15 against Leicester
• 1997 Leicester 9 - 3 against Sale

[edit] Tetley's Bitter Cup

• 1998 Saracens 48 - 18 against Wasps FC
• 1999 Wasps FC 29 - 19 against Newcastle
• 2000 London Wasps 23 - 31 against Northampton

[edit] Powergen Cup

• 2001 Newcastle 30 - 27 against Harlequins
• 2002 London Irish 38 - 7 against Northampton
• 2003 Gloucester RFC 40 - 22 against Northampton
• 2004 Newcastle 37 - 33 against Sale
• 2005 Leeds 20 - 12 against Bath

[edit] Powergen Anglo Welsh Cup

• 2006 London Wasps 26 - 10 against Llanelli Scarlets

[edit] EDF Energy (Anglo Welsh) Cup

• 2007

[edit] By number won

Position	Club	Times won
1	Bath	10
2	Leicester	5
3=	Gloucester RFC	4
3=	Gosforth/Newcastle	4
5	Wasps FC/London Wasps	3
6=	Coventry	2
6=	NEC Harlequins	2
8=	Bedford	1
8=	Bristol	1
8=	London Irish	1
8=	Saracens	1
8=	Leeds	1

[edit] See also

• 2005-06 Powergen Cup
• Powergen National Trophy
• English Rugby Union teams
• Guinness Premiership
• Heineken Cup
• European Challenge Cup
• European Shield

[edit] References

1. ^ Cup resurrects Anglo-Welsh contests of old days. The Times. Retrieved on 30 September 2006.
2. ^ EDF Energy to sponsor UK’s premier cup competition. Rugby Football Union. Retrieved on 30 September 2006.
3. ^ Powergen to end cup sponsorships. BBC. Retrieved on 30 September 2006.
4. ^ Anglo-Welsh Cup gets new sponsor. BBC. Retrieved on 30 September 2006.

[edit] External links

• Official Tournamant Website
• Official Fixtures, Results and Live Broadcasts
• English rugby news from the BBC
• Powergen Cup news from Planet Rugby (warning: Popups)