South West Rugby League

The Rugby League Conference South West Division is a division in the Rugby League Conference, an amateur rugby league competition with sides from across Britain. At present it is competed for by teams in the South West of England though it has in previous times included teams from other parts of the UK.

History

See also: History of the Rugby League Conference

The Rugby League Conference was founded in 1997 as the Southern Conference, a 10-team pilot league for teams in the South of England and the English Midlands.

The conference made the leap from 30 to 52 teams in 2003 and a South West Division appeared for the first time. It disappeared in 2004 as South West teams took part in the Western Division and Cardiff Demons joined the newly created Welsh Division.

The Premier divisions saw a change in boundaries leaving the North Premier division covering a larger area to give the English Midlands clubs their own premier division without having to face heartland teams, this left the West Midlands division with too few teams to run, resulting in a merged West Midlands and South West Division.

After a campaign by the RFL to form new clubs in the South West, a new South West division was created in 2007 for teams from the West Country. By 2010, there were enough teams to have a South West conference split into two pools.

For the 2011 season, there will be an RLC South West division and also a new RLC West of England.

Rugby League Conference Pyramid

See also: British rugby league system

• RLC National
• RLC South Premier
• RLC South West

The RLC South West is the lowest level on the Rugby League Conference pyramid for clubs in the South West of England.

2010 Structure

The initial line-up for the 2010 season is:-

Club	Gegründet	Standort	RLC Honours
Devon Sharks	2008	Torquay, Devon	RLC South West: 2009
East Devon Eagles	2006	Exmouth, Devon	RLC South West: 2008, 2010
Exeter Centurions	2007	Exeter, Devon
North Devon Raiders	2009	Barnstaple, Devon
Plymouth Titans	2003	Plymouth, Devon	RLC South West: 2007
Somerset Vikings	2003	Taunton, Somerset	RLC Western: 2004
South Dorset Giants	2008	Weymouth, Dorset
South Somerset Warriors	2010	Yeovil, Somerset

Group A
Exeter Centurions
Somerset Vikings
South Dorset Giants
South Somerset Warriors

Group B
East Devon Eagles
Devon Sharks
North Devon Raiders
Plymouth Titans

Each team has 10 games, five at home and five away. The two groups of four play each other home and away. Then each team will play all the other teams once, with two games at home and two away. The League Leaders will go into the Grand Final; second and third will play off for the other place in the final, at the home of the second placed team, as per other seasons. The Grand Final will be held at Exhibition Field, Exeter on Sunday August 8th.

2011 Structure

RLC South West

• Devon Sharks
• East Devon Eagles
• Exeter Centurions
• North Devon Raiders
• Plymouth Titans
• Somerset Vikings
• South Dorset Giants
• South Somerset Warriors

RLC West of England

• Bristol Sonics 'A'
• Gloucestershire Warriors
• Oxford Cavaliers
• Swindon St George
• Wiltshire Wyverns

South West Cup

The South West cup is a knock-out competition played for by members of the South West Division. It was originally known as the Devon Cup.

• 2006: East Devon Eagles (as Devon Cup)
• 2007: East Devon Eagles (as Devon Cup)
• 2008: Plymouth Titans (as Devon Cup)
• 2009: East Devon Eagles
• 2010: Devon Sharks

South West Nines

The South West Nines is a rugby league nines competition. It is competed for by RLC South West teams and local student rugby league sides.

• 2007 East Devon Eagles
• 2008 Exeter University
• 2009 Exeter University
• 2010 Exeter University

South West County Championship Festival

In 2010, a one-off match was played between Devon and Cornwall with Devon winning. This made national news on the BBC and was widely covered by the rugby league press. The South West County Championship is scheduled to take place on the May Bank Holiday weekend in 2011 at North Petherton in Somerset.

Devon and Cornwall have already confirmed their involvement, and teams from Somerset & Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire are expected. The format will mirror that of the RLC regional tournament, with teams playing a series of shortened games to determine the overall winners. The programme will provide a selection event for the South West regional team, that will go to the RLC regional tournament on the second May Bank Holiday.

Participating teams by season

• 2003: Bristol Sonics, Cardiff Demons, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Somerset Vikings, Worcestershire Saints
• 2005: Bristol Sonics, Gloucestershire Warriors, Oxford Cavaliers, Plymouth, Somerset Vikings, Thames Valley
• 2007: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings 'A'
• 2008: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings,
• 2009: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings, South Dorset Giants
• 2010: Devon Sharks, East Devon Eagles, Exeter Centurions, North Devon Raiders, Plymouth Titans, Somerset Vikings, South Dorset Giants, South Somerset Warriors

Winners

See also: Rugby League Conference trophy winners

• 2003 Cardiff Demons
• 2005 Gloucestershire Warriors
• 2007 Plymouth Titans
• 2008 East Devon Eagles
• 2009 Devon Sharks
• 2010 East Devon Eagles

External links

• Official website
• South West rugby league site
• South West Rugby League on facebook