RFU Unveils Revamped Second Tier With Playoffs And Promotion
RFU Unveils Revamped Second Tier With Playoffs And Promotion
The RFU launches Champ Rugby, a revamped English second-tier league with promotion, relegation, and a bold plan to boost talent and fan engagement.
English Rugby’s second tier is getting a radical makeover.
The Rugby Football Union has unveiled the new format and branding for the competition formerly known as the Championship.
Starting from the 2025-2026 season, it will be known as Champ Rugby, a fresh identity designed to inject energy, structure and long-term vision into a league long seen as under-resourced and uncertain.
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The changes are more than cosmetic.
The revamped league will expand to 14 teams, including recently promoted Richmond and a returning Worcester Warriors, who rejoin professional rugby after financial turmoil. But the biggest shift lies in what Tier 2 board chair Simon Gillham calls “aspiration and jeopardy”: a reintroduction of promotion and relegation, with a twist.
Modeled closely on France’s successful Pro D2, Champ Rugby will feature a top-6 playoff at the end of the regular season.
The first and second-place teams will secure automatic home semifinals, while teams 3-6 will battle for a place in the final.
The winner won’t be promoted automatically, however. Instead, they’ll face the team finishing last in the Gallagher Premiership in a two-legged showdown, with promotion hinging on victory and meeting strict minimum standards.
At the other end of the table, the structure is just as dramatic.
The team finishing 14th will be relegated to National League 1, while 12th and 13th will play a one-off survival match. The loser of that game then takes on the National League 1 playoff winner in an “Access Final,” meaning two clubs from the third tier could potentially rise — if they meet eligibility criteria.
“The goal is a league where every match matters,” said RFU council member Terry Burwell. “We’ve taken direct inspiration from our French colleagues, but added our own innovations.”
Funding will come from a blend of sponsorship, gate receipts and RFU support, with naming rights still up for grabs.
Gillham is optimistic, promising a surge in fan engagement.
"We can guarantee more bums on seats," he said. "This is going to be competitive, high-stakes rugby.”
Player development also is central to the plan.
Matchday squads must include 18 English-qualified players, and up to six may be dual-registered with Premiership clubs.
RFU performance director Conor O’Shea sees Champ Rugby as a critical development platform, especially with the recent success of England’s U20s and the emergence of players like 20-year-old Lions flanker Henry Pollock, who was playing for Bedford Blues just last year.
“Henry is just the first,” O’Shea said. “We believe we’re on the verge of a generational England team. Our job is to create the best system to nurture that talent, and this league will be at the heart of it.”
Still, questions remain about how promoted sides will fit into a Premiership landscape, possibly heading toward a franchise model. But for now, the RFU is pressing forward.
“There’s a lot of work to do,” O’Shea admitted. “But there will be a playoff next season.”
Champ Rugby aims to deliver gripping finales, packed stands and a pathway for players and clubs to thrive. The second tier may finally be stepping into the spotlight; it’s long overdue.
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