2009–10 LV Cup
| 2009–10 LV Cup | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament details | |||
| Countries |
 England Wales
|
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| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and knockout | ||
| Date | November 2009 - March 2010 | ||
| Tournament statistics | |||
| Teams | 16 | ||
| Matches played | 35 | ||
| Attendance | 278,978 (7,971 per match) | ||
| Tries scored | 150 (4.29 per match) | ||
| Final | |||
| Venue | Sixways Stadium | ||
| Attendance | 12,024 | ||
| Champions |
Northampton Saints (1st title) |
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| Runner-up |
Gloucester
|
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|
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The 2009–10 LV Cup (styled as the LV= Cup) was the 39th season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the fifth to follow the recently adopted Anglo-Welsh format.
Northampton Saints were crowned champions after beating Gloucester in the final at Worcester's Sixways Stadium.
The structure of the competition has been altered from previous years. The competition will continue to consist of the four Welsh Magners League teams and the twelve Guinness Premiership clubs arranged into pools consisting of three English and one Welsh team. However, the new format will see teams guaranteed two home and two away pool matches, with teams in Pools 1 and 4 playing each other and teams in Pools 2 and 3 playing each other. The competition is set to take place on international fixture dates during the Autumn Internationals and Six Nations, thus allowing teams to develop their squad players.
On 29 October 2009, little more than a week before the start of this season's competition, British insurer LV was unveiled as the new sponsor. The deal runs through the 2010–11 season.
The points scoring system for the pool stages will be as follows:
The ranking criteria were:
The top teams from each pool qualify for the knockout stages. The pool winners will be decided by the following criteria:
Each of the four qualifying clubs shall be ranked as above and shall play each other as follows:
The first club listed in each of the semi-final matches shall be the home club.
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