Now in its fourth season, the newly named LV= Cup is played between the 12 Guinness Premiership rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions.
The competition derives from the RFU Senior Knockout Cup, which has been played since 1972 and has been previously called the John Player, Pilkington, Tetley’s Bitter, Powergen and EDF Energy cups.
Cardiff Blues are the holders following their 50-12 victory over Gloucester Rugby at Twickenham Stadium in April 2009.
Pools
Pool 1
Leicester Tigers
Sale Sharks
Saracens
Ospreys
Pool 2
London Irish
Gloucester Rugby
Newcastle Falcons
Scarlets
Pool 3
Harlequins
London Wasps
Worcester Warriors
Cardiff Blues
Pool 4
Bath Rugby
Northampton Saints
Leeds Carnegie
Dragons
Fixtures
Teams in Pool 1 play teams in Pool 4 and teams in Pool 2 play teams in Pool 3
Round One
Thursday, November 5, 19:45, Ospreys v Northampton Saints
Friday, November 6, 19:30, Newport Gwent Dragons v Sale Sharks (S4C)
Saturday, November 7, 12:30, Worcester Warriors v Newcastle Falcons
Sunday, November 8, 13:45, Harlequins v Scarlets (SkySports)
Sunday, November 8, 15:00, Gloucester Rugby v Cardiff Blues
Sunday, November 8, 15:00, Leeds Carnegie v Leicester Tigers
Sunday, November 8, 15:00, London Irish v London Wasps
Sunday, November 8, 15:00, Saracens v Bath Rugby
Round Two
Friday, November 13, 19:45, Sale Sharks v Leeds Carnegie
Saturday, November 14, 12:30, Bath Rugby v Ospreys (S4C)
Saturday, November 14, 13:00, Northampton Saints v Saracens
Saturday, November 14, 15:00, Leicester Tigers v Newport Gwent Dragons
Saturday, November 14, 15:00, Scarlets v Worcester Warriors
Sunday, November 15, 13:45, Cardiff Blues v London Irish (SkySports)
Sunday, November 15, 15:00, London Wasps v Gloucester Rugby
Sunday, November 15, 15:00, Newcastle Falcons v Harlequins
Round Three
Friday, January 29, 19:30, Newport Gwent Dragons v Ospreys
Friday, January 29, 19:30, Leeds Carnegie v Saracens
Friday, January 29, 19:45, Sale Sharks v Northampton Saints
Saturday, January 30, 15:00, Leicester Tigers v Bath Rugby
Saturday, January 30, 15:00, Gloucester Rugby v Worcester Warriors
Sunday, January 31, 15:00, London Wasps v Scarlets
Sunday, January 31, 15:00, Cardiff Blues v Newcastle Falcons
Sunday, January 31, 15:00, London Irish v Harlequins
Round Four
Thursday February 4, 19:30, Ospreys v Leeds Carnegie
Saturday February 6, 14:15, Bath Rugby v Sale Sharks
Saturday February 6, 15:00, Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers
Saturday February 6, 15:00, Scarlets v Cardiff Blues
Saturday February 6, 15:00, Worcester Warriors v London Irish
Sunday February 7, 15:00, Saracens v Newport Gwent Dragons
Sunday February 7, 15:00, Newcastle Falcons v London Wasps
Sunday February 7, 15:00, Harlequins v Gloucester Rugby
Semi finals (weekend of March 13, 2010, venue TBC)
Final (weekend of March 20, 2010, venue TBC)
Points scoring
The points scoring system for the pool stages will be as follows:
(i) Four match points for a win
(ii) Two match points for a draw
(iii) A bonus match point for scoring four tries or more
(iv) A bonus match point for losing by a margin of seven points or less
Pool winners
The pool winners will be decided by reference to the following criteria:
a The pool winner will be the club with the highest number of match
points in each pool. The pool winners will be ranked 1 to 4 by reference
to the number of match points earned in the pools.
b If two or more clubs in the same pool end the pool stage equal on
match points, then the order in which they have finished will be
determined by:
i. the greater number of matches won by the club and
ii. if the number of matches won is equal, the club with the greater total
number of tries scored and
iii. if the total number of tries scored is equal, the club with the greater
points difference (points scored for, less points scored against) and
iv. if the points difference is equal, the club with the fewer number of red
cards and
v. if the number of red cards is the same, by the toss a coin.
Semi-finals and final
a Each of the four qualifying clubs shall be ranked as above and shall
play each other as follows:
Semi-final 1 - 1st ranked club v 4th ranked club
Semi-final 2 - 2nd ranked club v 3rd ranked club
b The first club listed in each of the semi-final matches shall be the home
club
c In the event of a tie at full-time at either semi-final or the final the
winner of that shall be determined by:
i. extra-time of 20 minutes (10 minutes each way); then
ii if the scores are tied after extra-time, then the team that has scored the
most tries in the match (including extra time) shall be deemed the
winner; then
iii if the teams have scored the same number of tries in the match
(including extra-time), then the winner will be determined by a placekick
competition.
