2011–12 English Premiership (rugby union)

2011–12 Aviva Premiership
Countries	England
Champions	Harlequins (1st title)
Runners-up	Leicester Tigers
Matches played	135
Attendance	1,755,073 (average 13,001 per match)
Top point scorer	Tom Homer (London Irish) (278 points)
Top try scorer	Rob Miller (Sale Sharks) (10 tries)
← 2010–11 2012–13 →

The 2011–12 Aviva Premiership was the 25th season of the top flight of the English domestic rugby union competitions and the second to be sponsored by Aviva. It began on 3 September with five matches, including the annual London Double Header at Twickenham, and ended with the final on 26 May, also at Twickenham.

The champions were Harlequins, who claimed their first-ever top-flight title after defeating Leicester Tigers in the final; Quins also finished atop the table in the home-and-away season.^[1][2][3] The season's defending champions, Saracens, lost in the semi-finals to Leicester. Worcester Warriors were the newcomers for this season, after having earned promotion by winning the 2010–11 RFU Championship play-offs against Cornish Pirates; they successfully avoided relegation. Newcastle Falcons finished on the bottom of the 2011–12 table and were relegated to the RFU Championship. The Falcons relegation was confirmed when London Welsh, who won the Championship, successfully appealed the decision of the Rugby Football Union that they did not meet the standards for promotion.

The 2011–12 season was the first for a major change in the Premiership's salary cap, which at the time stood at £4 million per team. In what is now a permanent feature of the cap system, academy credits were introduced. Each team receives a £30,000 credit for every home-grown player in their senior squad, with a maximum of eight such credits. In addition, a standard provision of the cap system that applies only in seasons that run up against the Rugby World Cup provided each team with a credit of £30,000 for each senior squad player that participated in the World Cup.^[4]

Teams

Club	Coach	Captain	Kit Supplier	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Bath	Ian McGeechan	Stuart Hooper	Puma	The Recreation Ground	12,300	Bath, Somerset
Exeter Chiefs	Rob Baxter	Tommy Hayes	Samurai Sportswear	Sandy Park	10,744	Exeter, Devon
Gloucester	Vacant	Luke Narraway	KooGa	Kingsholm Stadium	16,500	Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Harlequins	Conor O'Shea	Chris Robshaw	O'Neills	Twickenham Stoop[n 1]	14,600	Twickenham, London
Leicester Tigers	Richard Cockerill	Geordan Murphy	Canterbury of New Zealand	Welford Road	24,000	Leicester, Leicestershire
London Irish	Toby Booth	Clarke Dermody	ISC	Madejski Stadium[n 2]	24,250	Reading, Berkshire
London Wasps	Dai Young	Marco Wentzel	Canterbury of New Zealand	Adams Park	10,516	High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Newcastle Falcons	Peter Russell	James Hudson	Orion Teamwear	Kingston Park	10,200	Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear
Northampton Saints	Jim Mallinder	Dylan Hartley	BURRDA	Franklin's Gardens	13,600	Northampton, Northamptonshire
Sale Sharks	Bryan Redpath	Sam Tuitupou	Cotton Traders	Edgeley Park	10,852	Stockport, Greater Manchester
Saracens	Mark McCall	Steve Borthwick	Nike	Vicarage Road[n 3]	19,920	Watford, Hertfordshire
Worcester Warriors	Richard Hill	Shaun Perry	Cotton Traders	Sixways Stadium	12,068	Worcester, Worcestershire

Notes

Table

English Premiership Table
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Tries For	Tries Against	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1	Harlequins (C)	22	17	1	4	526	389	+137	53	33	4	1	75
2	Leicester Tigers (F)	22	15	1	6	647	475	+172	70	45	9	3	74
3	Saracens (SF)	22	16	1	5	489	350	+139	35	29	3	4	73
4	Northampton Saints (SF)	22	14	0	8	539	374	+165	51	31	5	4	65
5	Exeter Chiefs	22	12	0	10	436	421	+15	39	38	3	8	59
6	Sale Sharks	22	10	0	12	453	538	-85	42	46	2	7	49
7	London Irish	22	8	1	13	514	516	-2	46	43	3	9	46
8	Bath Rugby	22	9	0	13	365	412	-47	32	29	2	6	44
9	Gloucester Rugby	22	8	1	13	456	507	-51	42	47	1	9	44
10	Worcester Warriors	22	7	1	14	322	448	-126	23	46	0	6	36
11	London Wasps	22	6	0	16	363	502	-139	30	45	1	8	33
12	Newcastle Falcons	22	6	2	14	351	529	-178	25	56	0	4	32
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background (rows 1 to 4) are play-off places, and receive berths in the 2012–13 Heineken Cup. Blue background (rows 5 and 6) are clubs that do not make the play-offs, but will receive Heineken Cup berths. Red background (row 12) to be relegated if the champion of the RFU Championship meets the requirements for promotion. Updated 22 April 2012 — Current English Leagues source:Premiership Rugby Notes:

Pre-Season

The 2011 edition of the Premiership Rugby Sevens Series began on 15 July 2011 at The Recreation Ground, continued on 22 July at Franklin's Gardens and 29 July at Edgeley Park. This was the first opportunity of the season for any of the teams competing in the Premiership to win a trophy. The finals were held on 5 August 2011 at The Stoop and the Series was won by Newcastle Falcons.^[5]

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

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Play-offs

Semi-finals

FB 15 Mike Brown RW 14 Tom Williams OC 13 George Lowe IC 12 Jordan Turner-Hall LW 11 Sam Smith FH 10 Nick Evans SH 9 Karl Dickson N8 8 Nick Easter OF 7 Chris Robshaw (c) BF 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu RL 5 George Robson LL 4 Ollie Kohn TP 3 James Johnston HK 2 Joe Gray LP 1 Joe Marler Replacements: HK 16 Rob Buchanan PR 17 Mark Lambert PR 18 Will Collier LK 19 Tomas Vallejos N8 20 Tom Guest SH 21 Richard Bolt FH 22 Rory Clegg CE 23 Matt Hopper Coach: Conor O'Shea

FB 15 Ben Foden RW 14 Chris Ashton OC 13 George Pisi IC 12 James Downey LW 11 Paul Diggin FH 10 Ryan Lamb SH 9 Lee Dickson (c) N8 8 Roger Wilson OF 7 Phil Dowson BF 6 James Craig RL 5 Christian Day LL 4 Mark Sorenson TP 3 Brian Mujati HK 2 Andy Long LP 1 Soane Tonga'uiha Replacements: HK 16 Ross McMillan PR 17 Alex Waller PR 18 Paul Doran-Jones FL 19 Ben Nutley FL 20 Teimana Harrison SH 21 Martin Roberts FH 22 Stephen Myler CE 23 Tom May Coach: Jim Mallinder

---

FB 15 Geordan Murphy (c) RW 14 Horacio Agulla OC 13 Manu Tuilagi IC 12 Anthony Allen LW 11 Alesana Tuilagi FH 10 Toby Flood SH 9 Ben Youngs N8 8 Thomas Waldrom OF 7 Julian Salvi BF 6 Steve Mafi RL 5 Geoff Parling LL 4 George Skivington TP 3 Dan Cole HK 2 George Chuter LP 1 Marcos Ayerza Replacements: HK 16 Tom Youngs PR 17 Logovi'i Mulipola PR 18 Martin Castrogiovanni LK 19 Graham Kitchener FL 20 Craig Newby SH 21 Sam Harrison FH 22 Billy Twelvetrees WG 23 Scott Hamilton Coach: Richard Cockerill

FB 15 Alex Goode RW 14 David Strettle OC 13 Owen Farrell IC 12 Brad Barritt LW 11 Chris Wyles FH 10 Charlie Hodgson SH 9 Neil de Kock N8 8 Ernst Joubert OF 7 Will Fraser BF 6 Jackson Wray RL 5 Mouritz Botha LL 4 Steve Borthwick (c) TP 3 Matt Stevens HK 2 Schalk Brits LP 1 Rhys Gill Replacements: HK 16 Jamie George PR 17 John Smit PR 18 Carlos Nieto LK 19 Hugh Vyvyan LK 20 George Kruis SH 21 Richard Wigglesworth CE 22 Adam Powell WG 23 James Short Coach: Mark McCall

Final

FB 15 Mike Brown RW 14 Tom Williams OC 13 George Lowe IC 12 Jordan Turner-Hall LW 11 Ugo Monye FH 10 Nick Evans  76' SH 9 Danny Care N8 8 Nick Easter OF 7 Chris Robshaw (c) BF 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu  72' RL 5 George Robson LL 4 Ollie Kohn TP 3 James Johnston HK 2 Joe Gray LP 1 Joe Marler Replacements: HK 16 Rob Buchanan PR 17 Mark Lambert PR 18 Will Collier LK 19 Tomas Vallejos N8 20 Tom Guest  72' SH 21 Karl Dickson FH 22 Rory Clegg  76' CE 23 Matt Hopper Coach: Conor O'Shea

FB 15 Geordan Murphy (c) RW 14 Horacio Agulla  73' OC 13 Manu Tuilagi IC 12 Anthony Allen LW 11 Alesana Tuilagi FH 10 George Ford  73' SH 9 Ben Youngs N8 8 Thomas Waldrom 38 OF 7 Julian Salvi BF 6 Steve Mafi RL 5 Geoff Parling LL 4 George Skivington  73' TP 3 Dan Cole  55' HK 2 George Chuter  61' LP 1 Marcos Ayerza  73' Replacements: HK 16 Tom Youngs  61' PR 17 Logovi'i Mulipola  73' PR 18 Martin Castrogiovanni  55' LK 19 Graham Kitchener  73' FL 20 Craig Newby SH 21 Sam Harrison FH 22 Billy Twelvetrees  73' WG 23 Scott Hamilton  73' Coach: Richard Cockerill

Total Season Attendances

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Bath	11	129,864	11,806	12,200	10,085	96%
Exeter Chiefs	11	91,546	8,322	10,744	5,405	77%
Gloucester	11	149,532	13,594	16,121	10,864	82%
Harlequins	12	220,106	18,342	82,000	10,526	87%
Leicester Tigers	12	247,931	20,661	24,000	17,227	86%
London Irish	11	157,741	14,340	55,437	6,333	44%
London Wasps	11	74,195	6,745	10,516	5,078	64%
Newcastle Falcons	11	61,300	5,573	10,172	3,250	55%
Northampton Saints	11	145,648	13,241	13,475	12,542	97%
Sale Sharks	11	86,903	7,900	10,149	5,926	73%
Saracens	11	196,278	17,843	83,761	5,799	41%
Worcester Warriors	11	112,250	10,205	12,024	7,965	85%

Individual statistics

Top try scorers

Player	Team	Tries
Rob Miller	Sale Sharks	10
Christian Wade	London Wasps	9
Mike Brown	Harlequins	7
Miles Benjamin	Worcester Warriors	7
Charlie Sharples	Gloucester	7
Alesana Tuilagi	Leicester Tigers	7

Top points scorers

Player	Team	Points
Tom Homer	London Irish	278
Nick Macleod	Sale Sharks	231
Nick Evans	Harlequins	226
Jimmy Gopperth	Newcastle Falcons	221
Ignacio Mieres	Exeter Chiefs	211
Toby Flood	Leicester Tigers	199
Freddie Burns	Gloucester	193
Owen Farrell	Saracens	180
Ryan Lamb	Northampton Saints	166
Nicky Robinson	London Wasps	162

References

External links

• 2011–12 English Premiership Full Results