Competitions

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Cup Competition Regulations

Devon Cup Competition’s Structure and Regulations

ADMINISTRATION

The Devon RFU competitions committee will administer the competitions. One of the members of this committee shall act as competitions chairman and one member shall act as competitions secretary. The committee shall have full powers of adjudicating on all matters relating to the competitions. Any appeal against their decisions must be lodged with the Hon. secretary of the Devon RFU within seven days of the decision in question. All appeals must be accompanied by an administration fee of £50 payable to Devon RFU Ltd which shall be refunded if the appeal is upheld.

With effect from 2022-23 season, the Cup Competitions will be as follows;

  1. Devon Senior Cup shall be competed for by the top eight seeded Clubs from level 5 downwards and based on league positions of the previous season.
  2. Devon Intermediate Cup shall be competed for by the next eight seeded Clubs and based on league positions of the previous season.
  3. Devon Junior Cup shall be competed for by the next eight seeded Clubs and based on league positions of the previous season.
  4. The Devon Junior Plate shall be competed for by the remaining Clubs in the ECC Championship plus the 1st XV’s of any Club in the Devon Merit Tables who may apply to enter.
  5. The Devon 2nd XV Cup shall be competed for by the 2nd XV’s that are now competing in the English Clubs Championship
  6. The David Butt Memorial Trophy shall be competed for by teams that are currently in the Devon Merit Tables and which are not already entered in any other Devon Cup Competition.

The Devon Senior Cup, Intermediate Cup and Junior Cup will be divided into two groups of four Teams in Group One will play all the teams in Group Two, providing each of the eight teams with two home and two away games. The draw for the group and fixtures will be made no later than the Devon RFU AGM.

The Winners of each Group will play the Runners Up of the other Group in the semi-finals of the Senior/Intermediate/Junior Cup. The 3rd placed team in each Group will play the 4th placed team in the other Group in the semi-finals of the Senior/Intermediate/Junior Shield.

The Junior Plate Competition will be divided into four Groups of three (although this could vary depending on the number of entries). Teams in Group One will play the teams in Group 2 and the teams in Group three will play the teams in Group four. That will provide three games per team. In order to balance four games for each team the games in the first fixture only will be played and the venue reversed.

For the Junior Plate, the Winners of Group One will play the Winners in Group Three and the Winners Group Two will play the Winners Group Four – Home venue to be drawn at a suitable County Meeting.

For the Junior Bowl, The Runners Up of Group One will play the Runners Up in Group Three and the Runners Up Group Two will play the Runners Up Group Four – Home venue to be drawn at a suitable County Meeting.

The 2nd XV Cup Competition will be divided into three Groups of four and one Group of three (this may vary depending on the number of entries).

Teams in Group One will play the teams in Group two which will give the teams two home and two away fixtures. Teams in Group three will play the teams in Group four (which comprises three teams) which will leave each team in Group three a ‘Bye’ week. In order to make up the required number of games for teams in Group Three,  they will have one additional Saturday on which they will play each other and thus compensating for their ‘Bye’ week.

The David Butt Memorial Trophy semi-finals will comprise the top eligible team in Devon Merit Table NE v the 2nd top eligible team in Devon Merit Table SW. The Top eligible team in Devon Merit Table SW v the 2nd top eligible team in Devon Merit Table NE.

MATCH REGULATIONS

Unless otherwise agreed, Cup ties in ALL competitions must be played on the same dates as laid out.

In the semi-finals and Finals, if a draw after 80 minutes, a period of extra-time of 10 minutes each way will be played. If still a draw  then the team that has scored most tries shall be deemed the winner. If that is equal then the team that has scored most conversions from tries will be deemed the winner. In the semi-finals, if still a draw the AWAY side will  proceed to the final. In the final if the teams cannot be separated, then the Trophy will be shared.

REPLACEMENTS

A maximum of four replacements up to the semi-finals and finals when it is increased to seven. FIVE players in the squad should be qualified to play in the FRONT ROW in the rounds up to the semi-finals when that is increased to SIX.

In the event that a team has no suitably qualified front-row replacement at the start of the game, then the offending team shall forfeit the game. In the event that a team has complied with the regulation relating to front row forwards and runs out of replacements, the referee will order the game to be continued with non-contested scrums. In such cases, the offending team shall drop a player but must still continue with eight players in the scrum.

SCORING

In the Group fixtures, the same scoring system as per the English Clubs Championship shall apply.

RESULTS

Results of ALL matches MUST be notified to the relevant Competition Administrator by 6pm on the day of the match. It is the responsibility of the home team officials to report the correct result, including the number of tries scored by each team.

ELECTRONIC MATCH CARDS

Electronic Match Cards  to be used for ALL Cup fixtures. It is the responsibility of the home Club to ensure that the Cup fixtures are on the Game Management System.

PLAYER ELIGIBILITY

All players must be bona-fide members of the club and should be on the GMS database

A player who has played for a club in any round of ANY competition may not play for another club in any of the competitions in the same season.

Any club with any doubt concerning the eligibility of a player shall apply to the Devon RFU Competitions Sub-committee for a decision which shall be binding on that club.

WITHDRAWALS

Any Club/team that withdraws from any Competition may not be eligible to compete in any of the Devon RFU Cup Competitions the following season.

ABANDONED MATCHES

If a match is abandoned for safety reasons or weather conditions, it shall be re- arranged within 48 hours in accordance with the regulations unless more than 60 minutes have been played, in which case the score at the moment of abandonment shall stand and be deemed to be the final score. If a match is abandoned for foul play at any time, the tie will be void and neither club shall progress into the next round unless in his report the referee indicates that the conduct of only one club caused him to abandon the match. In this case the other club shall advance into the next round. The referee’s decision for the necessity of abandonment and the number of minutes played shall be final.

If a match is abandoned for any reason other than above, then, irrespective of the number of minutes played, the result of that match may be determined by the competitions sub-committee or it may order the match to be replayed.

COLOURS

In the event of clubs having clashing or similar colours, the away team must arrange to change its own colours.

REFEREES

The Devon Rugby Referees Society shall appoint a referee for matches in the competitions where appropriate throughout the season and shall appoint touch-judges for all semi-final matches and the final. Referees may be invited from outside the county on the official exchange system. Please note that touch-judges shall not be appointed for the quarter-finals.

Please Note, for this season, Clubs will be required to add their Cup fixtures onto GMS manually. This is how WhosTheRef pick up the games and appoint officials. If you do not add the games to GMS then you may not have a referee appointed.

FINANCE

The gate receipts for all the finals including income from the sale of programmes shall be divided equally between Devon RFU Ltd and the two participating clubs after deduction of charges for the match officials and the costs of producing a programme. Not fewer than 10 days before a final, the secretary of the home club shall be responsible for submitting draft arrangements for the match to the competitions secretary for approval by the sub-committee and within 14 days of the match being played for submitting to the Hon. Treasurer of the DRFU a balance sheet showing all receipts, permitted expenditure and distribution of income.

Clubs should ensure that a realistic charge is made for spectators attending the matches. Matches should be considered as ALL PAY. In the event that a Club does not have the facilities to enable a gate to be charged, the Devon RFU reserves the right to change the venue to an alternative ground where such facility is available.

DISPUTES

All objections regarding alleged breaches of the regulations must reach the relevant competitions administrator not later than seven days after the end of the match in question and must be in writing accompanied by an administration fee of £50 payable to the Devon Rugby Football Union Ltd. This fee will be returned if the objection is upheld.

LAWS

All matches shall be played under the Laws of the Game as published by the RFU and regulations contained therein or otherwise in force in respect of replacements and substitutions.

REVIEW

These rules will be reviewed by the committee at the termination of each competition.